Reuters: Russia arranged for parcels of sex toys to be blown up, Ukrainians involved

Russia’s secret services have been involved in a number of cases of exploding parcels in European countries, with Ukrainian nationals among those involved.

Source: European Pravda; Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter

Details: This case concerns an incident last summer in which three parcels were detonated at delivery company warehouses in the UK, Germany and Poland. Another parcel containing explosives that failed to detonate was also found in a warehouse in Warsaw.

A person familiar with the case said that pillows packed in parcels of cosmetics and sex toys contained hidden improvised explosive devices made from a cocktail of chemicals, including highly reactive magnesium.

According to the source, the chemicals were ignited using pre-installed detonators adapted from cheap Chinese electronic gadgets used to track things like lost keys. The effect was enhanced by tubes of cosmetics that looked like beauty products but contained a gel made of flammable compounds, including nitromethane.

"The proceedings in this case concern criminal activities inspired by Russia's GRU [Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate – ed.]," the source said.

According to the source, the Polish prosecution is based on the testimony of at least five suspected members of the alleged sabotage group and classified findings of the security services.

The investigators have reportedly identified at least five suspected members of the alleged sabotage group who carried out the bombings.

The source told Reuters that one of them is a Ukrainian national, Vladyslav Derkavets. When questioned, Derkavets said he had received instructions via Telegram from a man nicknamed Warrior, to whom he had been introduced by a friend. In the summer of 2024 he travelled to Lithuania, where he packed four parcels, each with a stuffed insert and a few tubes of cosmetics and sex toys. Before packing the parcels, he pressed the time-delayed detonation buttons.

After that, the source said, Derkavets handed the packages to another man in a park in Vilnius who gave him the code word "Mary". 

He was arrested on suspicion of committing terrorist acts on the orders of Russian intelligence in August 2024. He denies the charges.

Another suspect is Alexander Bezrukavy, a 44-year-old Russian national whose task was to prepare for an attack on cargo planes flying to North America. 

To this end, he was to arrange for parcels of sneakers and clothes to be sent from Warsaw to Washington and Ottawa. Bezrukavy also denies the charges against him.

Background:

• In autumn, Poland reported that the Russians were planning terrorist attacks on DHL flights to the United States and the United Kingdom. Moreover, at that time, Polish prosecutors announced the detention of four people in connection with the case.
• Details of the charges were published in November by the Wall Street Journal. The article, based on sources and conversations with Western officials, claims that Russia was planning operations to start fires on transatlantic flights, both passenger and cargo aircraft, bound for the United States and Canada.
• The journalists' source claimed that the fires set by Russia in July at DHL logistics centres in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, UK, were part of these operations. 
• At the time of the incidents in Germany and the UK, neither the company nor the authorities specified what had caused the fires. However, the WSJ reported that devices with a flammable magnesium-based mixture had been built into electric massagers.
• It was stated that this clearly bore signs of having been a Russian attack.

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