Poland charges suspect over parcel bomb plot amid Russia sabotage fears

Polish prosecutors have charged one person over an alleged parcel bomb plot that also involves two Russian suspects, at a time when European governments are on high alert over acts of sabotage attributed to Moscow.

Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on Monday that an indictment was filed in the central town of Piotrków Trybunalski against Kristina S, a citizen of Ukraine.

The accused — whose full name and age were not disclosed — was charged with being complicit in causing an immediate danger of an explosion, the ABW said. She faces up to eight years in jail if found guilty.

In July 2024, Kristina S sent a package containing explosives via a courier company, according to the ABW.

The package contained "explosives in the form of nitroglycol, as well as hidden military-grade electric fuses, an initiating device, a metal thermos with a shaped charge insert, and powdered aluminium," the agency said.

"This structure constituted a so-called shaped charge bomb," it added.

The parcel was discovered and secured in a large warehouse of the courier company in Poland's central Łódź province, the authorities said.

"In the event of an explosion, the shipment could have caused significant damage to critical infrastructure, piercing sensitive fuel tanks, building ceilings or strong steel structures," said a statement by the National Prosecutor's Office.

Kristina S is accused of committing the alleged offence along with another Ukrainian citizen and two Russian citizens. Two individuals have been placed under preventive detention in connection with the case, according to Polish prosecutors.

Polish officials say the country is the target of espionage and hybrid war attacks initiated by Moscow that have grown more serious since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier this year, Poland's interior ministry said the ABW had detained at least 44 people on suspicion of espionage or sabotage for Russia or Belarus in Poland since the start of the all-out war. Among them are Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles, the ministry said.

More broadly, security agencies across Europe have accused Russia of staging dozens of attacks and other sabotage incidents on the continent since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, often using people with passports other than Russian for its malign activities, such as Bulgarian, Moldovan or Ukrainian.

In July last year, there was a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK. Western officials blamed the incidents on the Kremlin.

Moscow has repeatedly denied such allegations, despite a slew of evidence and court cases proving otherwise.

In one example, a London court in March convicted a group of Bulgarians living in the UK of spying for Russia and plotting to assassinate or kidnap Kristo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist and former lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat.