Lithuanian appeals court orders suspect in DHL parcel arson case to remain in custody

A Lithuanian appeals court has overturned a lower court’s decision to release Eldar Salmanov, a Russian citizen accused in the 2024 DHL parcel arson case, ordering his detention to be extended by three months, LRT reports.

The Vilniaus Regional Court had previously ruled to release two suspects—63-year-old Ukrainian citizen Vasiliy Kovač and Salmanov—on bail of €30,000 each, with electronic monitoring and mandatory police check-ins. However, the Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the decision, arguing the measures were insufficient.

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal upheld the prosecution’s complaint regarding Salmanov, declaring the detention order final and non-appealable. A separate hearing on Kovač’s detention is scheduled for Monday.

The case stems from a July 2024 incident in which four parcels containing improvised incendiary-explosive devices were shipped from Vilnius—two via DHL to the UK and two via DPD to Poland. One detonated at Leipzig Airport before loading onto a Vilniaus-Leipzig-London flight, another ignited in a DPD truck in Poland, and a third caught fire in a Birmingham DHL warehouse. A fourth device failed to detonate and was recovered by authorities.

Prosecutors allege the suspects concealed the devices in parcels labeled as massage tools and body care products, acting as “executors and intermediaries” in a terror plot. Investigators claim the operation was orchestrated by Russia’s GRU military intelligence, with organizers remaining beyond Lithuanian jurisdiction.

All accused have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face charges of terrorism, endangering lives, and destruction of property belonging to DHL and DPD.