Lithuania says the arson attack on IKEA in Vilnius was ordered by Russian special services

The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office has submitted to court a criminal case with an indictment accusing one person of setting fire to the IKEA shopping center in Vilnius on May 9, 2024.

According to LRT, the data contained in the pre-trial investigation materials allow us to reasonably assume that the criminal acts were committed by a foreign citizen who was a minor at the time.

“He acted in the interests of Russian military structures and special services, as part of a pre-established organized terrorist group aimed at committing terrorist crimes in Lithuania and Latvia, together with other persons in respect of whom the pre-trial investigation is being conducted separately,” the conclusions say.

“The indictment has been signed, and the case is being sent to Vilnius Regional Court, where one person is charged with terrorism-related criminal offenses,” said Artūras Urbelis, chief prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office, at a press conference on March 17.

According to him, the suspect is charged with three crimes: committing a terrorist act, training for terrorist purposes, and illegal storage of explosives.

“During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the direct perpetrators were two young men under the age of 20. One of them, whom we are taking to court, was a minor,” Urbelis said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office reported that both perpetrators of the crime are Ukrainian nationals. Law enforcement agencies from both countries are cooperating and coordinating their actions while detaining one of the accused in Poland.

“The organizer of these actions is Russia; it is connected with military intelligence and law enforcement agencies,” Urbelis emphasized.

According to him, the suspect is currently under the most severe preventive measure—arrest. He has been in custody since May.

The prosecutor asserts that IKEA’s selection was not random. IKEA stores were closed in Russia, as well as several production sites. According to Urbelis, this affected about 15 thousand people in Russia, and the IKEA group also made a significant contribution to support Ukraine.

During the press conference, Saulius Briginas, Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Bureau of Lithuania, noted that this is not the first or last investigation conducted by the Criminal Police Bureau, where individuals are identified and detained for planned, prepared, or committed terrorist crimes with elements or goals of sabotage.

Lithuania recently reported that they successfully stopped a sabotage group’s attempt to set fire to a cargo of military aid heading to Ukraine.

Prior to that, Prosecutor General Nida Grunškienė told reporters that Lithuanian law enforcement agencies were conducting several pre-trial investigations into suspected sabotage operations, but she refused to provide more details.