Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor-in-chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

British counter-terrorism police are investigating the origins of a package that caught fire at a DHL depot in Birmingham in July, amid growing fears that Russian agents were planning to cause “chaos” in British streets.

The incendiary device, which caught fire at a DHL depot in Midpoint Way, in the Birmingham suburb of Minworth, caused no major damage or injuries, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday. The fire was brought under control by staff and local firefighters at that time, the statement added.

A similar incident occurred in Germany in July, when a package intended for a plane’s hold caught fire at a DHL logistics center in Leipzig before the flight.

Thomas Haldenwang, head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service, said this week that there had been a dramatic increase in “aggressive behavior” by Russian agents and that the explosion would have resulted in an accident if it had occurred during a flight.

The Met, which is leading the British investigation, did not say whether Russian involvement was suspected in the Birmingham incident.

“On Monday July 22, a package caught fire on site. The incident was dealt with by staff and local firefighters at the time and no injuries or significant damage was reported,” the Met said on Wednesday.

He added: “The investigation is still ongoing and no arrests have been made in connection with our investigation at this time. As part of our investigations, officers are liaising with other European law enforcement partners to determine whether or not this may be linked to other incidents of a similar type in Europe.

DHL said: “We are aware of two recent incidents involving shipments on our network. We are fully cooperating with relevant authorities to protect our people, our network and our customers’ shipments.

It added that it was putting in place “enhanced security measures in all European countries in response to ongoing investigations by authorities in several countries.”

The investigation was first reported by The Guardian.

Western security officials have increasingly warned that the Kremlin has stepped up “special operations” across Europe as part of its attempts to deter Western support for Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, warned that Russia’s GRU military unit had a “sustained mission to sow chaos on British and European streets: we saw arson, sabotage and much more.”

Recent incidents, some of which were carried out by agents commissioned by the criminal world, include an alleged Russian-backed arson attack on a Ukraine-linked warehouse in the UK, a sabotage plot against US military bases in Germany, attempts to disrupt the European railway signal. networks, the jamming of civil aviation GPS navigation systems in the Baltic countries and the assassination in Spain in February of a Russian helicopter pilot who had defected to Ukraine.

Russia is also believed to be behind a foiled plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest munitions maker, which was uncovered by US intelligence agencies.

Russian sabotage was at the top of the agenda at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague in May. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, said that “virtually all allies” have raised the “Kremlin” issue. . . intensifying its hybrid attacks against frontline NATO states, burning and sabotaging supply warehouses, ignoring maritime borders and demarcations in the Baltics, mounting more and more cyberattacks, (and) continuing to spread disinformation.