Poland, Romania Foil Russian Exploding Parcels Plot, Warsaw Says

Poland and Romania detained eight people suspected of planning sabotage on behalf of Russia, authorities in Warsaw said on Tuesday, with three arrests concerning an alleged new plan to send exploding parcels, this time to Ukraine.

European officials have previously blamed Russia for detonations of parcels carried by DHL and DPD in Europe in 2024, in what security services said was part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. Russia has denied any such plans.

Poland says it has been targeted with tactics such as arson and cyberattacks in a “hybrid war” waged by Russia to destabilize nations that support Kyiv in the Russian war in Ukraine. Moscow has denied such accusations.

“Preliminary information indicates that they created a route of some kind to send explosives through Poland and Romania to Ukraine,” Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesman for the Special Services Coordinator, told reporters.

“One of them, a 21-year-old Ukrainian, was detained here in Poland near Warsaw. His colleagues, who were traveling to Romania, were detained by the Romanian special services in Bucharest.”

There was no immediate comment from Romanian authorities.

The Polish National Prosecutor’s Office said that the shipments of parcels were intercepted by Romania before they did any harm.

The prosecutor’s office said the shipments were supposed to spontaneously combust or explode during transport, and the aim of the planned actions was to intimidate the population and destabilize European Union countries supporting Ukraine.

Dobrzynski also said that in recent months the Internal Security Agency has detained a total of 55 people who acted to the detriment of Poland and on behalf of Russian intelligence.

(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz and Karol BadohalAdditional reporting by Luiza Ilie in BucharestEditing by Clarence Fernandez and Frances Kerry)