Russian spies have been accused of orchestrating an arson attack on an Ikea furniture store in Lithuania last year.
The fire broke out in May in a store in the capital of Vilnius, which officials suspect may have been targeted because Ikea uses the same colours as the Ukraine flag.
Lithuanian prosecutors say they uncovered evidence that Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency – which the UK blames for the Salisbury poisonings – controlled a chain of 20 middle-men involved in the attack.
The chain allegedly ended in two Ukrainian teenagers who were bribed with €10,000 (£8,400) and a used BMW.
The GRU is accused of masterminding a growing sabotage campaign which includes a blaze which destroyed 1,400 units in a Polish shopping centre three days after the Ikea fire.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said Lithuania had ‘confirmed our suspicions that responsible for setting fires to shopping centres in Vilnius and Warsaw are the Russian secret services’.
‘Good to know before negotiations. Such is the nature of this state,’ he added.
A number of Nato countries have repeatedly accused Russian secret services of sabotage plots across Europe, allegations which the Kremlin denies.
Lithuania is a Nato member and has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Lithuanian state prosecutor Arturas Urbelis said the suspects were hosted at a ‘secret meeting in Warsaw’, and may not have known exactly who they were working for.
There they allegedly agreed to ‘set fire to and blow up’ shopping centres in both Lithuania and neighbouring Latvia.
‘It is obvious that the persons we have identified, the perpetrators and the intermediaries, are also linked to the criminal acts committed in Poland,’ Mr Urbelis added.
‘The chain includes the organisers, then more organisers for certain goals, then more intermediaries, all down to the perpetrators. It is a multi-stage, very complex system,’ he told reporters.
Nobody died in the attack, but Lithuania views it as an ‘act of terrorism’, Mr Urbelis added.
‘Ikea’s colours are the same as Ukraine’s flag – this has strong symbolic meaning,’ he continued.
‘These terrorist acts were aimed at severely intimidating the society of both countries, illegally forcing the Republic of Lithuania, the European Union and other states to reduce or terminate their support for the Republic of Ukraine, as well as destabilising the most important political, economic and social structures of the state,’ the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office added in a statement.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
