Russian secret services may be behind arson in European shopping centres, Lithuania warns

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) has called on businesses and organisations supporting Ukraine to increase vigilance and improve their fire safety measures, warning of possible provocations by Russia.

Source: LRT, as reported by European Pravda 

Details: The Centre's head, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, told reporters that the arson-related provocations are intended to cause public panic and reduce support for Ukraine, and that the Russian secret services may be involved.

Quote from Vitkauskas: "The threat of arson, as observed in neighbouring countries, is also present in Lithuania. Therefore, we urge businesses and security services to be very vigilant, monitor the situation, and record any suspicious incidents."

The NKVC head said arson is usually arranged over Telegram, where "easy work" is offered for a price.

There have been multiple large-scale arson attacks across Europe in recent weeks. A fire at an IKEA shopping centre in Vilnius was reported last week, and a huge fire recently broke out in a Warsaw shopping mall.

The Polish authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the multiple fires recently documented in the country were caused by hostile foreign actors. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently stated that there is no evidence of foreign involvement.

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