Russia was preparing to carry out terrorist attacks on civilian planes - WSJ

DHL said it was taking steps "to protect its network, staff and assets, as well as its customers' cargo."

Russia planned terrorist attacks aboard cargo or passenger planes bound for the United States and Canada. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, November 4.

The publication reminds that in July, two devices sent through the postal service exploded at the logistics centers of DHL in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, England. According to Western intelligence services, the two devices were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard civilian aircraft.

"Investigators and spy agencies in Europe found out how the devices were made. These are electric massagers filled with a flammable magnesium-based substance. They were part of a Russian conspiracy," the WSJ writes.

Security officials say the stun guns sent to the UK from Lithuania appear to have been a trial attempt to figure out how to smuggle such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America.

It is noteworthy that the national prosecutor's office of Poland announced the arrest of four people in connection with the fires - the country's authorities accused them of participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of foreign intelligence.

"The purpose of the group was also to test the transmission channel of such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada," the prosecutor's office said.

The publication noted that Poland did not name the persons arrested in connection with the incidents involving incendiary devices. Their nationalities also remain unknown.