RUSSIAN spies were behind a bizarre mission to firebomb an IKEA store after bribing a teen with a BMW, according to Lithuanian authorities.
Prosecutors accused the Russian intelligence services of puppetting the attack on Ikea because its logo uses the same colours as the Ukrainian flag.
The Ikea shop in Vilnius targeted in the attackCredit: J. Stacevičius / LRTIt is one of a string of attacks and disasters across Europe linked to Russians recruiting “disposable agents” for sabotage.
The Vilnius plot has been connected to a huge shopping centre blaze in Poland three days later, leading to Lithuania and the Poles to uniting forces in the investigation.
The two arsonists behind the May 2024 attack in Lithuania’s capital were both Ukrainian – and one of them was a minor.
They have both been arrested – one in Lithuania and one in Poland – and are to face terrorism charges at trial.
They were coaxed into the carrying out the attack with €10,000 and a BMW.
The prosecutors said the pair accepted the missions during a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland’s capital.
A statement from Lithuanian officials said that Russia was attempting to “severely intimidate” EU societies into withdrawing their support for Ukraine.
The menacing attacks were also supposed to “destabilise the most important political, economic and social structures of the state”, prosecutors said.
Poland and the Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — are among the most ardent supports of Ukraine’s war effort.
Russia has denied carrying out the attacks, and says the West is seeking to inflame anti-Russian feeling.
Arturas Urbelis, from the Lithuanian prosecutor general’s office, said the chain of orders had been traced back to the Russians via more than 20 intermediaries.
He said: “The chain includes the organisers, then more organisers for certain goals, then more intermediaries, all down to the perpetrators. It is a multi-stage, very complex system.”
The arsonists on the ground did not know who they were ultimately working for, he said.
Urbelis added that the store was not targeted at random.
He said: “Ikea’s colours are the same as Ukraine’s flag – this has strong symbolic meaning.”
Prosecutors are still hunting for those involved further up the command pole.
The fire was triggered by a timed detonator on May 9, 2024, but quickly contained.
Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, said the pair who set the device travelled between Poland and Lithuania numerous times.
They scouted out the store, took photos and planned escape routes, he said.
Briginas revealed that the detonation device had been hidden among flammable products before the store closed.
The pair is said to have ignited the fire at 4am, filmed the flames, disposed of the kit and clothes and then jumped in an arranged lift back to Warsaw.
There they were given a BMW 530 and the cash as a reward.
A suspect was arrested in Lithuania on May 13, after getting information he was on his way to Riga, Latvia, by bus to carry out another attack.
The prosecutors said he was found with “incendiary-explosive materials” – meaning they successfully foiled another attack.
Three days after the Lithuanian arson attempt, on May 12, an enormous blaze engulfed a shopping centre in Warsaw – almost completely destroying it.
Polish president Donald Tusk said at the time investigators were looking into potential Russian involvement.
And on Monday he welcomed the Lithuanian announcement, saying it had “confirmed [their] suspicions” that the Russians had masterminded the two attacks.
Tusk added: “Good to know before negotiations. Such is the nature of this state.”
Security services around Europe have been on high alert since a spate of mystery fires and attacks spread across the continent last year.
Investigators have alleged potential Russian involvement in a range of crimes including an east London arson attack and antisemitic graffiti in Paris.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13801508/putin-plot-ikea-fire-lithuania-bmw-bribe/
