PUTIN has unleashed a spate of chilling sabotage attacks across Europe – and it’s feared the Heathrow blaze was his latest ploy.
A new map shows how Vlad has peppered the continent with arson, bombs plots, “air terror”, cyber attacks and assassination plans.
Here’s a round up of all the suspected Russian sabotage schemes.
A Ukrainian-owned warehouse in east London was set alight in March 2024, and Brit Dylan Earl has admitted arranging it on behalf of Russia.
He payed a gang to spark the blaze under instruction and payment of the fearsome Russian Wagner mercenary group.
Then, in July, a letter bomb was planted on a plane to Britain – setting fire to a DHL warehouse in Birmingham when it detonated.
Leipzig in Germany was also hit with a series of booby-trapped parcels, with Russia the prime suspect.
A flammable substance was reportedly hidden in electric massage devices.
Poland arrested four people in relation to the devious scheme, which is thought to have been a trial run for more postal bombs destined for the US.
Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America.
A DHL jet plummeted from Lithuania’s skies and erupted into a fireball in November 2024.
Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda said that almost every plane crash should be checked for Russian interference going forwards.
He said: “I will not go into details, I can only confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of air terror, not only against Poland but against airlines around the world.”
There have also been a number of foiled assassination attempts across the continent traced back to Russia.
A plan to kill Armin Papperger, the head of a German arms manufacturer, was foiled by US intelligence services in July 2024.
And Russia also chalked up a plan to take out Ukraine’s president Zelensky when he visited Poland in April.
A potentially-devastating plot to bomb France’s D-Day 80th anniversary celebrations in June last year was thankfully foiled.
A former Russian soldier set off a bomb made with “Mother of Satan” chemicals in a hotel room, and French cops
Lithuanian authorities this week accused Russia of being behind a plot to firebomb an Ikea store last May in the capital Vilnius.
Two “disposable agents” are said to have hidden explosives amongst flammable products and set it off overnight.
The Ukrainian nationals, one of whom was a teen, were reportedly bribed with a BMW and €10,000.
A DHL cargo plane fell from the sky and crashed down in a fireball[/caption]
Prosecutors believe Russia’s warped logic behind the attack was that Ikea’s logo uses the same colours as the Ukrainian flag.
Officials connected Russia’s Vilnius plot to an enormous blaze three days later that destroyed Poland’s largest shopping centre.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed the investigation, saying it had “confirmed [their] suspicions” that the Russians masterminded the two attacks.
Tusk has also claimed that Russia has deliberately caused plane crashes around Europe in a campaign of “air terror”.
An arson attack in Latvia in February last year has separately been linked to Russuia.
A Molotov cocktail was lobbed through the window of Latvia’s Museum of the Occupation – a reminder of the country falling under Soviet control.
And multiple vital undersea internet cables have been mysteriously severed in European waters.
Detained suspect in the Ikea fire case[/caption]
DHL warehouse, Birmingham[/caption]
Vital underwater sea cables have been mysteriously severed around Europe[/caption]
The latest was the Estlink-2 cable in the Baltic Sea – supposedly accidentally cut by a ship’s anchor on Christmas Day 2024.
Russia’s spies have also infected the Europe’s digital network with disruptive cyber attacks.
The governments of Germany and the Czech Republic were both hit with cyber assaults on the same day – May 3, 2024.
And Norwegian government websites were rendered unusable for a full day back in 2022.
Timeline of Russian sabotage attacks across Europe
SINCE the war in Ukraine it is believed the Russians have launched a wave of sabotage attacks across Europe.
Oslo, Norway, June 29, 2022 – Cyberattack renders government websites unusable for 24 hours
Riga, Latvia, February 27, 2024 – Arson attack on’Museum of the Occuption’
London, UK, March 20, 2024 – Wagner-group linked arson attack at warehouse.
Wroclaw, Poland, April 18, 2024 – Plot to assassinate Zelensky foiled
Warsaw, Poland, April 13, 2024 – Warsaw shopping centre torched by suspected Russian agent
Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2024 – Cyberattacks on German politicians and companies
Prague, Czechia, May 3, 2024 – Mass cyber attacks on government and infrastructure
Vilnius, Lithuania, May, 9, 2024 – Arson attack on Ikea – targeted as store was same colour as Ukrainian flag
Paris, France, June 7, 2024 – Russian accused of planning plot to plant bomb at D-day celebration.
Dusseldorf, Germany, July 12, 2024 – Western intelligence reveal plot to assassinate German arms boss.
Birmingham, UK, July 22, 2024 – Russia suspected of planting device at DHL depot.
Warsaw, November 8, 2024 – Prosecutors reveal Russian parcel bomb plot across Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 25, 2024 – DHL cargo plane crashes after suspected Russian package bomb
Baltic Sea, December 25, 2024 – Estlink-2 cable cut by ship anchor – one of many cable cutting attacks linked to Russia
