Possible Russian role probed in incendiary devices found in Britain and Germany
October 21, 2024 2 Comments
AUTHORITIES IN BRITAIN AND Germany are reportedly investigating the possibility that the Russian intelligence services may be behind two fires that occurred in shipping warehouses last summer. The fires occurred in late July in facilities belonging to DHL, a German logistics firm headquartered in Bonn.
On September 1, the German government issued a warning about unknown suspects allegedly shipping “unconventional incendiary devices” throughout Europe. The warning referenced a fire that occurred at a DHL logistics center in the east German city of Leipzig. Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) warned at the time that “further incendiary incidents” were anticipated, but provided no further details.
Late last week, British newspaper The Guardian reported that an incident like the one that occurred in Leipzig had taken place in a DHL warehouse in Minworth, a suburb of the city of Birmingham, located in the British Midlands region. In subsequent reporting, the paper alleged that British and German authorities have been investigating a link between the two incidents. Moreover, authorities are reportedly probing the possibility that the incidents may be part of a wider campaign by Russian military intelligence to sabotage Western European transportation and shipping networks.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian media revealed on Friday that a suspect had been arrested in Lithuania in connection with the two fires in Britain and Germany. The reports suggested that the two incendiary devices had been shipped from Lithuania by the same individual. However, there have been no updates about who may be behind the apparent sabotage campaign.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 21 October 2024 | Permalink
SEVERAL EASTERN EUROPEAN STATES announced plans to expel Russian diplomats this week, as Moscow declared an Italian diplomat persona non grata in a tit-for-tat dispute with Rome over espionage allegations. Earlier this month, the Czech Republic 
CITING NATIONAL SECURITY GROUNDS, the government of Lithuania has canceled an agreement with a Chinese-owned company to supply baggage-scanning equipment at airports across the Baltic country. The Beijing-based company, Nuctech, is owned by Tsinghua Tongfang, which is in turn controlled by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Tasked with managing China’s nuclear fuel supply and development program, CNCC is owned by the Chinese government.
A rare three-way spy-swap has reportedly taken place between Russia and two North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, Lithuania and Norway. Rumors of a possible exchange of imprisoned spies between the three countries first 
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US indicts members of Russian spy cell for plotting assassinations on US, European soil
September 21, 2026 by Joseph Fitsanakis 2 Comments
Three of the accused are believed to be senior members of the RIS network. They are: Yuri Khrameev, 63; his biological son, Kirill Khrameev, 27; and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35. The elder Khrameev is a retired intelligence officer who claims to have reached the rank of colonel and has stated at least once that he worked alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past. The younger Khrameev is believed to hold a mid-level rank in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The indictment describes Durruthy as a well-known member of the Cuban expatriate community in Russia, who has operated internationally as a member of the RIS network.
The fourth suspect is named as Yaidel Delgado Suarez (known as “the Viking”), who, like Durruthy, is a Cuban expatriate living in Russia. The remaining suspect is named as Angel Eduardo Castro, a 22-year-old Venezuelan. Notably all five suspects remain at large and are believed to reside in Russia. The Khrameevs and Durruthy are Russian citizens. Durruthy is also a Cuban national, as is Suarez—the latter’s status described in the indictment as that of “a Cuban national living in Russia”. Castro is referred to as a “Venezuelan national living in Russia”. It is therefore not known whether Suarez and Castro also hold Russian citizenship—though they most likely do.
According to the indictment, in the summer of 2026 Suarez and Castro recruited a Venezuelan citizen who was living in the New York area. The unnamed Venezuelan, who is referred to in the indictment as “Resident 1”, agreed to engage in reconnaissance activity in the vicinity of a house where the RIS network believed an exiled Russian dissident resided. In exchange for his services, “Resident 1” was promised between $1,000 and $1,500. The recruit was also offered $40,000 in exchange for assassinating the RIS network’s target, but appears to have declined the offer. Read more of this post
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Angel Eduardo Castro, assassinations, FSB, GRU Unit 29155, Kirill Khrameev, Lithuania, News, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Russia, sabotage, United States, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, Yuri Khrameev