Russia is suspected of planting an incendiary device on a plane to the UK which later caught fire at a warehouse in Birmingham.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating suspicions that the fire, which took place at a DHL warehouse, has a connection to Moscow, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
No one was injured in the incident and the fire was extinguished by local staff and the fire brigade.
It comes just days after German security chiefs disclosed an almost identical incident in Leipzig, where a suspicious device destined for a plane caught fire at another DHL facility.
UK counter-terrorism police are taking the lead in the investigation into the Birmingham incident given its similarities to the case in Leipzig, with officials fearing a widespread campaign by Russian spies.
A Metropolitan Police counter-terror spokesman told The Guardian: “On Monday July 22, a package at the location caught alight. It was dealt with by staff and the local fire brigade at the time and there were no reports of any injuries or significant damage caused.”
‘Observing aggressive behaviour by Russian intelligence’
Thomas Haldenwang, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence services, disclosed the Leipzig incident in a briefing to a parliamentary committee earlier this week.
He said that if the plane had crashed while in air, the debris might have fallen on to Germans who “sympathise with Vladimir Putin and his goals”. Leipzig is in east Germany, the former Communist GDR.
The plane in Leipzig had been delayed which meant that the device caught fire at the DHL facility before the flight took off. Had it ignited while the plane was in the air, it would have likely crashed, German officials said.
“We are observing aggressive behaviour by the Russian intelligence services [that is] putting people’s lives at risk. It affects all areas of our free society,” Mr Haldenwang said.
After the incident, DHL said it toughened up “security protocols and procedures”. In August, German authorities wrote to companies and associations warning that packages containing incendiary devices had caught fire en route across Europe and that more such parcels could be circulating.
Russia has been waging a campaign of hybrid warfare on the West in retaliation for its military support of Ukraine, consisting of sabotage and espionage attacks.
In April, Britain charged several men with an arson attack on a Ukraine-owned logistics firm in London. They were alleged to be aiding the mercenary Wagner group.
Moscow is also suspected of launching a failed plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, the chief executive of the German arms firm Rheinmetall which plays a key role in supplying artillery ammunition to Kyiv’s forces.
Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, said it was “quite likely” that Russian spies were behind a blaze which destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre in May.
The European Commission is looking into the proliferation of attempts to send incendiary devices around Europe using air freight firms.
A Western official told The Telegraph it was seen as a new front in Russia’s hybrid war on Nato countries and had caused a number of mysterious warehouse fires around Europe.
One of the most common routes used saw these devices originating in Lithuania before being sent to Germany, Poland or elsewhere.
One source said: “These incendiary devices don’t get caught by the security controls carried out by air freight firms before loading up their planes with the cargo.”
The Commission is looking into the issue with the Aviation Security Regulatory Committee to establish “any necessary action that may be required on a national or EU level”.
The Telegraph contacted DHL for comment.