Russia was behind attempted 2024 arson attack, Lithuania says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Lithuanian Police anti-terrorism unit is seen during a joint training exercise with the army, Aug. 16, 2022. (Wikimedia Commons)

By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS  -  Lithuanian authorities accused Russia's GRU military intelligence service on Friday of masterminding attempted arson attacks on a plant that supplies radio wave scanners to Ukraine's army.

Six nationals of Spain, Colombia, Cuba, Russia and Belarus had been arrested and charged over the 2024 attacks and each faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted, senior prosecutor Arturas Urbelis told reporters.

"The crimes were coordinated, and orders were issued to the perpetrators by a group of people living in Russia, who are connected with Russia's GRU," the Deputy Chief of Lithuania's criminal police, Saulius Briginas, said at the same event.

There was no immediate reaction from Russia which has repeatedly denied accusations that it has stepped up sabotage and other attacks in the region since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

ATTACKS ATTEMPTED IN POLAND, ROMANIA

The group that coordinated the attack was made up of Colombian and Cuban citizens living in Russia, and had attempted similar arson attacks in Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic, Briginas said.

They had targeted oil infrastructure in Romania, construction warehouses in Poland and buses, a post office and a cinema in the Czech Republic, he said.

Lithuania has issued international arrest warrants for three more people, and was trying to extradite a fourth who has been arrested in Colombia, he added.

All of the six arrested people had links to Russia, where they studied, travelled or had acquaintances, Briginas told the press conference. 

They were paid 5,000 to 10,000 euros for their actions, Urbelis said. "The perpetrators were mainly motivated by money."

Last year Lithuania blamed Russia for an attempted arson attack on an IKEA shopping centre.

Polish prosecutors last month charged a Russian in absentia with directing a group of saboteurs and spies as part of a suspected campaign to undermine Warsaw's strong support for Ukraine.

Moscow has dismissed such accusations in the past, saying the West is stoking anti-Russian feeling.

 (Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Anna Ringstrom and Andrew Heavens // REUTERS)