DHL executive testifies in Lithuanian incendiary parcel case

A DHL executive testified on Monday in the Vilnius Regional Court trial over incendiary devices sent abroad, LRT reported. Philippe Bauer, a senior director responsible for security at DHL in Europe, described the company’s parcel tracking and security procedures.

Two of the four parcels containing incendiary devices were sent through DHL. One caught fire at Germany’s Leipzig Airport, while the other ignited in a warehouse in the United Kingdom.

“Our investigation established that both parcels had been sent from Vilnius. We passed all the information collected during the investigation to Lithuania,” Bauer told the court.

He explained how parcels are labelled and transported, confirming that DHL records the precise position of every parcel inside a container. This allows the company to identify which parcels were located near the source of a fire. The container in question held 140 parcels.

Bauer acknowledged that the security measures used before the incidents had been insufficient. Although parcels were screened by X-ray, the incendiary devices were not detected. Security rules were tightened after the incidents.

“We were lucky that the plane was delayed. It was due to depart at 5.30am, while the incendiary device activated at 5.43am,” the DHL representative said. The parcel caught fire just before it was loaded onto the aircraft. He said the consequences would have been much more serious if the fire had started during the flight.

Prosecutors have charged Lithuanian citizen Aleksandr Shuranov, Ukrainian citizens Vadym Borsuk and Vasyl Kovach, Daniil Yentsi, who holds Russian and Lithuanian citizenship, and Russian citizen Eldar Salmanov. They are accused of carrying out a terrorist act and participating in an organised terrorist group whose aim was to commit terrorist crimes. The defendants are aged between 23 and 69 and deny the charges.

In July 2024, four parcels were sent from Lithuania to the United Kingdom and Poland. Two were transported by air to a sorting centre in Germany. One caught fire at Leipzig Airport before being loaded onto a plane, while the second ignited at a warehouse in the UK. A parcel delivered to Poland caught fire in the truck transporting it. The fourth, carried by DPD by road, did not ignite because of a device malfunction and was seized by authorities.

According to the charges, the fire in the UK caused almost 400,000 euros in damage, while the incidents in Germany and Poland caused 126,000 euros and almost 62,000 euros in damage, respectively.

Officials say the defendants acted as operatives and intermediaries, while the organisers were in Russia and are currently out of reach. The investigation established that the crimes were organised by Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, known as the GRU.

The case was separated from another investigation involving at least 16 citizens of different countries suspected of organising, planning or assisting terrorist crimes in various countries. Law enforcement agencies from Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, working through a Eurojust-coordinated joint investigation team, said they had stopped planned attacks involving self-igniting parcels and identified those who planned and carried them out.

The case was transferred to court in early March.