A Ukrainian Nova Post van at the site of a Russian strike on a postal terminal in Kharkiv, June 2024. Photo: EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV.
Romanian officials announced on Tuesday that two Ukrainian citizens, aged 21 and 24, were detained last week for allegedly preparing acts of sabotage on Romanian territory.
Six people were also arrested in Poland, with Polish authorities claiming they were involved in a Russian-backed sabotage plot to send exploding parcels to Ukraine.
According to Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, DIICOT, the suspects arrested in Romania attempted to mail two incendiary parcels through Nova Post, a Ukrainian courier company operating between EU countries and Ukraine.
The devices were allegedly intended to ignite and destroy the courier company’s building located in central Bucharest.
“The two Ukrainian citizens were detained on October 16 and are being investigated for attempted acts of subversion,” DIICOT said in a statement.
The improvised explosive devices were safely neutralised. The suspects have since been placed in pre-trial detention for 30 days.
The Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI said that “Romania, along with other Eastern European states such as Poland and Moldova, continues to be the target of Russian aggression … whose main objective is to reduce support for Ukraine.”
The Romanian operation was carried out in coordination with the Polish authorities, who have arrested six suspects.
“Preliminary information indicates that they created a route of some kind to send explosives through Poland and Romania to Ukraine,” Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for Poland’s Special Services Coordinator, told media, Reuters reported.
Nova Post, the company targeted in the thwarted attack, is Ukraine’s largest courier service, providing a vital logistical link between Ukrainians living abroad and those remaining in the country.