Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has publicly accused Russia of planning attacks targeting unspecified entities using aircraft.
“I’m not going into details. I just want to confirm the credibility of the fear that Russia is planning acts of aerial terror, not only against Poland but against airlines worldwide,” Tusk stated.
Although shocking, the comments from the Polish leader were not unexpected.
There has been a growing number of suspicious, alarming, and unexplained incidents in recent months. Two of these incidents involved airlines and raised suspicions that Moscow was seeking to plant explosive devices on cargo planes, while others involved ships that have damaged underwater cables.
In July of last year, a package sent from Lithuania suddenly caught fire in a warehouse of a postal company in Leipzig, Germany, 1,300 kilometers to the west. A similar device exploded in a warehouse of the same company in Birmingham, England, causing a fire.
For many European leaders, the suspicion is clear that Russia is conducting a covert campaign against the West.
The seriousness of this issue was further highlighted by reports that U.S. intelligence officials intercepted communications from Russian military intelligence officers who were discussing a bomb plot. President Joe Biden had instructed two senior national security advisers to warn Russian officials.
Moscow has rejected Western accusations of terrorism, including claims of deliberate arson, hijacking, poisoning, and attacks against individuals in the West.
