Intelligence sources tell WSJ that Russia plotted to put incendiary devices aboard planes bound for U.S. and Canada

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Western security officials believe a covert Russian operation shipped two incendiary devices via DHL as part of a plot to “start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada.” The devices ignited in July 2024 at DHL logistics hubs in Germany and England. 

The WSJ reports that the fires this summer were caused by electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance in what “appear[s] to have been a test run to figure out how to get such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations against Russia, calling the WSJ’s story “traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media.”