Vilnius court continues hearing in terrorism trial over incendiary device shipments

VILNIUS - A Vilnius regional court on Friday continued the trial of five people accused of terrorism for sending incendiary devices via courier services, hearing testimony from a witness and one of the defendants.

Three defendants currently in custody were escorted to the court by guards, while two others under less restrictive measures also attended the hearing.

Aleksandras Suranovas, Daniilas Jencius, Vasilijus Kovacas, Vadymas Borsukas and Eldaras Salmanovas are charged with committing acts of terror and participating in an organised terrorist group.

Borsukas and Kovacas are Ukrainian citizens, Suranovas is a Lithuanian national, Salmanovas is Russian, and Jencius holds dual Russian-Lithuanian citizenship. The defendants are aged between 23 and 69.

The court heard from Jelena Guseva, Salmanovas’ partner. Living in Narva, Estonia, Guseva testified that she had not visited Russia for approximately five years.

She said an acquaintance from Russia, who occasionally visited their home, asked Salmanovas to send a parcel from Estonia to Latvia. Guseva suggested the acquaintance likely sent the package himself, while she only paid the shipping costs. She could not recall the exact recipient, noting only that the surname was unusual and complex.

Kovacas, one of the defendants, subsequently testified, denying membership in a terrorist group and saying he did not know the other defendants, with one exception. He said an acquaintance, Nikolajus Grigorjevicius, recommended by a family contact in Russia, asked him to collect a parcel from a locker in Riga and transport it to Vilnius.

The defendant said the parcel was intended for people who had already departed by the time he arrived. He said he transported the package as a favour without payment, travelling to Vilnius with another defendant. Upon arrival, he left the parcel at a designated spot, after which it disappeared. Kovacas said he was unaware of the contents.

When questioned about links to the Russian military, Kovacas denied any connection. He also said that a copy of former submarine captain Andrejus Baburovas’ passport found on his phone was there for technical or administrative reasons.

According to case files, four parcels containing incendiary devices hidden inside neck massagers were sent from Lithuania to the United Kingdom and Poland in July 2024. The devices were allegedly activated in Vilnius before being shipped further. Three devices ignited, causing fires at Leipzig airport in Germany, as well as in the UK and Poland. One parcel was intercepted after the mechanism failed. Total damages are estimated in the hundreds of thousands of euros.

Prosecutors allege the operation was organised by individuals linked to Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, with the defendants acting as perpetrators and intermediaries. All defendants deny the charges.

The investigation found that at least 16 related criminal acts may have been planned across Europe, coordinated through several countries. Law enforcement from Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK operated within a group coordinated by Eurojust.