Reuters publishes details about alleged Russian airline sabotage plot
April 7, 2025 4 Comments
THE REUTERS NEWS AGENCY has disclosed more information about an alleged plot by Russian intelligence to detonate bombs on cargo flights from Europe to North America. Initial details of the plot emerged in October 2024, when it was reported that explosions had occurred earlier that year at shipping warehouses in England and Germany. It later emerged that a similar explosion had occurred at a third shipping warehouse, located in Poland.
It is now understood that the explosions occurred on July 19, 20 and 21, 2024, and that at least two of them took place in facilities belonging to DHL, a German logistics firm headquartered in Bonn. Affected facilities are reportedly located in Leipzig, Warsaw, and Birmingham. All three explosions were caused by rudimentary incendiary devices hidden inside commercial shipments. European officials said at the time that the explosions were part of a broader wider campaign by Russian intelligence to sabotage Western European transportation and shipping networks.
Now the Reuters news agency claims that the explosions were meant to test security systems in preparation for a major sabotage operation. The operation aimed to detonate explosive mechanisms in mid-air on cargo flights from Europe to the United States and Canada. Moreover, a fourth incendiary device, which was found at a Warsaw shipping facility, failed to explode and has been forensically examined by bomb experts, Reuters said. Citing “interviews with more than a dozen European security officials”, including a person familiar with the case in Poland, the news agency said it was able to provide “the most granular account yet of the alleged plot”.
The report claims the incendiary devices were concealed inside pillows, bottles of cosmetics, and sex toys. They were ignited with the use of remote timers taken from cheap Chinese electronic goods. Once detonated, the timers sparked explosions with the help of gelled flammable cocktails that included compounds such as nitromethane—a highly flammable liquid chemical used in industrial applications. All ingredients used in the incendiary devices, including nitromethane, are easily accessible to consumers at a relatively low cost.
According to Reuters, the procedures followed in the DHL attacks fit the profile of similar operations that have been carried out in recent years by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Forces’ General Staff, known as GRU. Such procedures include hiring disposable agents, most of which are not Russian citizens, for one-off operations. In the case of the DHL attacks, the agents were allegedly hired on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram and paid with the use of cryptocurrencies, or in cash.
Among the alleged suspects in the case is a Ukrainian man identified by Reuters as Vladyslav Dekravets, who was recruited in southern Poland and is now facing extradition to Poland from Bosnia. Another suspect, identified in the Reuters report as Alexander Bezrukavyi, allegedly packaged parcels containing sneaker shoes for shipment to the United States and Canada. The shipments were intended to help the GRU “gather information about parcel-processing methods and timing”. During the operation, the two men came in contact with individuals who appeared to be GRU officers, using the cryptonyms WARRIOR and MARY.
The DHL cases remain at a pre-trial stage in several European countries, Reuters said. They involve the pending extradition of suspects from elsewhere in Europe. The trials are going to feature evidence gathered from criminal investigators and intelligence agencies, according to the report.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 07 April 2025 | Permalink
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION HAS revoked the accreditation of two British diplomats over espionage allegations, while also accusing the United Kingdom of sabotaging the United States’ “peace plan” for Ukraine. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that the diplomatic expulsions involved two British men, a diplomat stationed at British embassy in Moscow, as well as a spouse of another British diplomat.
THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT of Defense has reportedly ordered its Cyber Command to “stand down from all planning” of cyber operations aimed at Russia. 
THE OFFICE OF THE Federal Prosecutor in Germany has charged three dual German-Russian citizens with acts of espionage on behalf of Russia, with the intent of harming the national security of the German state. In compliance with German privacy laws, the three espionage suspects have been publicly identified only by their first names and last name initials. They are: Dieter S., Alex D., and Alexander J.
THERE ARE CONFLICTING REPORTS about the fate of Russia’s military bases in Syria, following the complete collapse of the 54-year-long Assad dynasty. Late on Sunday it was 
facility outside of the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, it constitutes the sole warm-port fueling and repair facility that is exclusively available to the Russian Navy. It is home to the Russian naval group in Syria, which consists of a submarine and five warships.
RUSSIA’S NEED TO GATHER intelligence from Scandinavian targets has increased considerably since Finland and Sweden joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), prompting Moscow to seek nontraditional means of collecting intelligence, according to Finland’s spy agency. A new 
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.
LEAKED INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY leading German media outlets has revealed Russia’s plans for an influence campaign targeting Israel. The information was leaked earlier this month by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and German television stations Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), as well as by 
parliament— would support a possible transfer of military aid to Ukraine.
AT LEAST FOUR OF the eight Russians 
AN INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN launched in France after a Ukrainian-born Russian national reportedly detonated explosives in a hotel room near Paris, suffering severe burns in the process. 
FRENCH POLICE ARRESTED THREE foreign nationals on Monday, accusing them of having deposited five coffins draped in French flags at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The flags bore the inscription “French Soldiers of Ukraine”, while the coffins were found to contain sacks of plaster, according to 
AUTHORITIES IN GERMANY and Poland have charged three individuals with working on behalf of Russian military intelligence in planning acts of sabotage and assassination on European soil. One of the plots allegedly involved an effort to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Another aimed to sabotage commercial airport facilities that are being managed by the United States military.
NO COUNTRY HAS BETTER intelligence on the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (known as ISIS-K) than the United States. American forces have faced ISIS-K almost from the moment the group was founded in 2015 in Pakistan, just a few miles from the Afghan border. It was there that a group of disaffected members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP, commonly referred to as the Pakistani Taliban) began turning their backs on al-Qaeda, which they saw as a failing brand, and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
not being taken into consideration by the group’s primary targets, namely Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia. Indeed, despite the Washington’s best efforts, its warnings about pending ISIS-K attacks have been ignored by the group’s primary targets. A few days after an ISIS-K attack killed nearly 100 people in Kerman, Iran, The Wall Street Journal 
Son of senior CIA official dies ‘fighting for Russia’ in Ukraine
April 28, 2025 by Joseph Fitsanakis 1 Comment
On April 25, the independent Russian media website Important Stories (known as iStories) claimed that Michael Gloss, 21, the son of CIA Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Gallina Gloss, had “died within the borders of Ukraine” while fighting for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Although his death had occurred in April 2024, the information about his American citizenship and his connection to the CIA had been kept from the media until the iStories report disclosed it to the public.
Later on the same day, a spokesperson for the CIA told NBC News that the spy agency was aware of the incident, which had been treated “as a private family matter for the Gloss family, not a national security issue”. The CIA spokesperson added that Michael Gloss had “struggled with mental health issues” and relayed the Gloss family’s wish for “privacy at this difficult time”.
According to iStories, Michael Gloss voiced strong support for Ukraine early in the Russo-Ukrainian war. He eventually traveled to Europe on his own, joining the Rainbow Family, a modern-day hippie movement with roots in late-1960s counterculture. Gloss eventually traveled across Turkey, where he reportedly began posting increasingly pro-Russian messages and strong criticism of the United States on his social media accounts.
In the summer of 2023, Gloss began posting stories and images from Russia. In one instance, he stated in a social media post that he had decided to “defeat mortality and the military-industrial complex”. Shortly afterwards he enlisted in the Russian army and began posting photos and videos from his military training alongside other international volunteers. He also began participating on Russian social media platforms, such as VKontakte, where he expressed strong support for the Russian war effort and blasted what he referred to as “Western propaganda” about Ukraine and its government.
According to iStories, Michael Gloss “died within the borders of Ukraine”, though it is not known whether he participated in any fighting. An obituary published by his family in the United States makes no mention of his enlistment in the Russian military, stating only that he was “tragically killed in Eastern Europe on April 4, 2024”, while “forging his own hero’s journey”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 28 April 2025 | Permalink
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