Is this Putin’s most bizarre plot yet? Russian spies behind firebombing of IKEA store after bribing teen with a BMW

RUSSIAN spies were behind a bizarre mission to firebomb an IKEA store after bribing a teen with a BMW, according to Lithuanian authorities.

Prosecutors accused the Russian intelligence services of puppetting the attack on Ikea because its logo uses the same colours as the Ukrainian flag.

J. Stacevičius / LRT

The Ikea shop in Vilnius targeted in the attack[/caption]

East2West

A huge blaze at Poland’s biggest shopping centre three days later was linked to the Vilnius attack[/caption]

Prosecutor General's Office

The suspect was arrest on his way to carry out another attack in Latvia, prosecutors alleged[/caption]

It is one of a string of attacks and disasters across Europe linked to Russians recruiting “disposable agents” for sabotage.

This one has been connected to a huge shopping centre blaze in Poland three days later, leading to Lithuania and the Poles to unite forces in the investigation.

The two arsonists behind the May 2024 attack in Lithuania‘s capital Vilnius were both Ukrainian – and one of them was a minor.

They have both been arrested – one in Lithuania and one in Poland – and are to face terrorism charges at trial.

They were coaxed into the carrying out the attack with €10,000 and a BMW.

The prosecutors said the pair accepted the missions during a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland‘s capital.

A statement said that Russia was attempting to “severely intimidate” EU societies into withdrawing their support for Ukraine.

The menacing attacks were also supposed to “destabilise the most important political, economic and social structures of the state”, prosecutors said.

Poland and the Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — are among the most ardent supports of Ukraine‘s war effort.

Russia has denied carrying out the attacks, and says the West is seeking to inflame anti-Russian feeling.

Arturas Urbelis, from the Lithuanian prosecutor general’s office, said the chain had been traced back to the Russians via more than 20 intermediaries.

He said: “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.”

The arsonists on the ground did not know who they were ultimately working for, he said.

Urbelis added that the store was not targeted at random.

AP

Polish PM Donald Tusk welcomed the investigation, and said it confirmed Poland’s suspicions[/caption]

The Marywilska 44 shopping centre was almost completely destroyed

Tomasz Fijolek/Fire Department

The[/caption]

He said: “Ikea’s colours are the same as Ukraine‘s flag – this has strong symbolic meaning.”

Prosecutors are still hunting for those involved further up the command pole.

The fire was triggered by a timed detonator on May 9, 2024, but quickly contained.

Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, said the pair travelled who set the device travelled between Poland and Lithuania numerous times.

They scouted out the store, took photos and planned escape routes, he said.

Briginas revealed that the detonation device had been hidden among flammable products before the store closed.

The pair is said to have ignited the fire at 4am, filmed the flames, disposed of the kit and clothes and then jumped in an arranged lift back to Warsaw.

There they were given a BMW 530 and the cash.

A machine blasts water into the flames at the Warsaw shopping centre

The operation to extinguish the fire took hours

A suspect was arrested in Lithuania on May 13, after getting information he was on his way to Riga, Latvia, by bus to carry out another attack.

The prosecutors said he was found with “incendiary-explosive materials” – meaning they successfully foiled another attack.

Then, days later on May 12, an enormous blaze engulfed a shopping centre in Warsaw – almost completely destroying it.

Polish president Donald Tusk said at the time investigators were looking into potential Russian involvement.

And on Monday he welcomed the Lithuanian announcement, saying it had “confirmed [their] suspicions” that the Russians had masterminded the two attacks.

Tusk added: “Good to know before negotiations. Such is the nature of this state.”

Security services around Europe have been on high alert since a spate of mystery fires and attacks spread across Europe last year.

Investigators have alleged potential Russian involvement in a range of crimes including an east London arson attack and antisemitic graffiti in Paris.

Thomas Haldenwang, who recently stepped down as president of Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency, said last year: “We have been observing aggressive actions by the Russian intelligence services for some time now.

“Russia is using the entire toolbox, from influencing political discussions to cyber attacks on critical infrastructure to sabotage on a significant scale.”