Appeals court rejects Russian terror suspect’s detention appeal

Lithuania’s Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected Russian citizen Eldar Salmanov’s appeal against the extension of his detention in a terrorism case, LRT reported.

Salmanov, who lives in Estonia, had his detention extended for three months by the Vilnius Regional Court in mid-August.

Prosecutor Šarūnas Astrauskas said that imposing a less restrictive measure could allow Salmanov to flee or evade the court. His lawyer asked the court not to extend the detention and to impose a less restrictive measure instead. During the hearing, the lawyer asked Salmanov how much he could provide as bail. The defendant said he could offer up to 40,000 euros.

Salmanov is one of five people charged over incendiary devices sent abroad through DHL and DPD parcel services. The other defendants are Lithuanian citizen Aleksandras Šuranovas, Ukrainian citizens Vadym Borsuk and Vasyl Kovač, and Daniil Jencius, who holds Russian and Lithuanian citizenship.

They are charged with carrying out a terrorist act and participating in an organised terrorist group whose aim was to commit terrorist crimes.

In July 2024, four parcels were sent from Lithuania to the United Kingdom and Poland. Two parcels transported by air reached a sorting centre in Germany, where they were assigned for onward delivery. One caught fire at Leipzig Airport shortly before being loaded onto a plane, while the second ignited in a warehouse in the United Kingdom.

The parcel delivered to Poland caught fire in the truck transporting it. The fourth parcel, carried by DPD road freight, did not ignite because of a malfunction in the device and was intercepted by officials. Examination identified the device’s mechanism and assessed the danger it posed.

According to the prosecution, the fire in the United Kingdom caused almost 400,000 euros in damage, while the incidents in Germany and Poland caused 126,000 euros and nearly 62,000 euros in damage respectively.

Officials say the defendants acted as operatives and intermediaries, while the crimes were organised by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, known as the GRU.