Russia attempted parcel bombings with sex toys in Europe – Reuters

Russian special services are involved in several parcel bombings in Europe, which involved Ukrainians, among others. This is reported by Reuters, which spoke with a source familiar with the matter, and calls it “a hybrid war on the West”.

As reported, this case concerns the incident that occurred last summer, when three parcels exploded at courier warehouses in the UK, Germany, and Poland. Another parcel with explosives that didn’t go off was also found in a warehouse in Warsaw.

According to a person familiar with the case, the pillows packed in the parcels with cosmetics and sex toys contained hidden improvised incendiary devices made from a cocktail of chemicals, including highly reactive magnesium.

The source said the chemicals were ignited by pre-installed detonators adapted to cheap Chinese electronic gadgets used to track things like lost keys, and the effect was enhanced by tubes of cosmetics that looked like beauty products but actually contained a gel made from flammable compounds, including nitromethane.

“The proceedings in this case concern criminal activity inspired by the Russian GRU (Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate),” the source said.

According to the source, the Polish prosecution is based on the testimony of at least five suspected members of the alleged sabotage group, as well as on classified conclusions of the security services.

As noted, the investigation has identified at least five suspected members of the alleged sabotage group who carried out the bombings.

The source told the agency that one of them is Ukrainian Vladyslav Derkavets. During interrogation, he said that he received instructions on Telegram from a man named “Warrior,” whom a friend introduced to him.

In the summer of 2024, he traveled to Lithuania, where he packed four parcels, each with a padded insert, as well as several tubes of cosmetics and sex toys. Before packing the parcels, he pressed the delayed detonation buttons.

Thereafter, according to the source, Derkavets handed the packages to another man in a park in Vilnius, who gave him the code word “Mary.”

In August 2024, he was arrested on suspicion of committing terrorist acts on the orders of Russian intelligence. He denies the charges.

Another suspect is 44-year-old Russian Alexander Bezrukavy, whose task was to prepare for an attack on cargo planes flying to North America.

To achieve this, he was to organize the shipment of parcels of sneakers and clothes from Warsaw to Washington and Ottawa. He also denies the charges against him.

In the fall, Poland reported that Russians were preparing terrorist attacks on DHL flights to the United States and the United Kingdom. Moreover, at that time, Polish prosecutors announced the detention of four people in connection with this case.

The details of these charges were published in November by the Wall Street Journal. The article, based on sources and conversations with Western officials, claims that Russia was planning operations to set fire to transatlantic flights, both passenger and cargo, bound for the United States and Canada.

At the time, the journalists’ interlocutors claimed that the fires set by Russia in July at DHL logistics centers in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, UK, were part of these operations.

At tThe cause of the fires was not disclosed by the company or authorities during the UK and Germany incidents.American publication, however, claims that devices with a flammable magnesium-based mixture were built into electric massagers.

The Russian trace of these attacks was stated with certainty.