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Lithuanian prosecutors have blamed the Russian military intelligence service for being behind an arson attack on an Ikea store in Vilnius last year, calling it “an act of terrorism”.
Lithuania, a Nato member, has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Moscow invaded in February 2022, and has frequently warned of Russian sabotage attempts.
On Monday, the Lithuanian prosecutor general’s office attributed the arson attack in Vilnius in May 2024 to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
There were no casualties, but the prosecutor Arturas Urbelis told reporters: “We regard this act as an act of terrorism with serious consequences.”
Two Ukrainian citizens were suspects in the Ikea arson case, with one being detained in Lithuania and the other in Poland, he added.
“It has been established that through a series of intermediaries … the organisers of these crimes are in Russia and this is connected to military intelligence and security forces,” Urbelis said.
The prosecutor’s office said the person detained in Lithuania was suspected of having entered Poland in spring 2024.
“During a secret meeting in Warsaw, he and another person agreed to set fire to and blow up shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia for a reward of €10,000 (nearly $11,000),” the office said in a statement.
“More than one supermarket has been set on fire, and not just supermarkets,” Urbelis said when asked about whether the arson was linked to similar cases in neighbouring Poland.
“It is obvious that the persons we have identified, the perpetrators and the intermediaries, are also linked to the criminal acts committed in Poland,” he added.
Poland was currently investigating about 30 alleged acts of preparation or commission of sabotage, the authorities said.
The Polish prosecutor Przemyslaw Nowak said: “After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have indeed observed an increase in the activity of foreign services in Poland, including primarily the services of Russia.”
“Unfortunately, we have evidence that in Poland, and not only in Poland, there are several organised groups that plan and carry out acts of sabotage,” he added.
Commenting on Lithuania’s findings, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said it was “exceptionally perfidious” for Russia to hire Ukrainians as perpetrators of sabotage acts.
“Dear allies, the investigation of the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office has confirmed our suspicions that responsible for setting fires to shopping centres in Vilnius and Warsaw are the Russian secret services,” he said on X.
“Good to know before negotiations. Such is the nature of this state,” he added, referring to potential talks on war-torn Ukraine’s fate.
