Lithuanian court hears DHL employee testify in flammable parcel terrorism case

A DHL employee told a Lithuanian court on Tuesday she had felt compelled to thoroughly inspect suspicious parcels linked to a terrorism case involving explosive devices sent abroad, LRT reports.

Gabija C., who worked at the transport company, testified that she had handled two parcels sent to the UK by one of the defendants, which raised her suspicions due to their poor packaging—a loose cream container and unstable boxes. She removed batteries, resealed the cream with tape, and intended to pass the parcels to security for further checks but forgot.

“I had a feeling that I had to check those parcels properly,” she told the court, adding that she only realised something was wrong when questioned days later about the shipments. Besides the cream, one parcel contained a massager.

The employee admitted failing to verify the sender’s ID, as required by company rules. While she did not recall the sender, investigators later identified him as Aleksandras Šuranovas, one of five defendants charged with terrorism and participation in a terrorist organisation.

Šuranovas, Daniilas Jencius, Vasilijus Kovačas, Vadymas Borsukas, and Eldaras Salmanovas—ranging in age from 23 to 69—are accused of plotting terrorist acts. The group includes Lithuanian, Russian, and Ukrainian nationals. Authorities allege the plot was orchestrated by Russia’s GRU military intelligence, with the defendants acting as executors or intermediaries.

In July 2024, four parcels were sent from Lithuania to the UK and Poland. Two, transported by air, caught fire—one at Leipzig Airport before loading, another in a UK warehouse. A third ignited in a truck en route to Poland, while a fourth, carried by DPD, failed to detonate due to a mechanical fault. The devices caused an estimated €600,000 in damages across the three countries.

Šuranovas, who allegedly sent the parcels under a false identity, denied ties to the GRU in a March interview with the BBC, claiming ignorance of the flammable contents. The case was referred to court in early March.