Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Russia of plotting a global terrorist campaign targeting airlines, stating that the country had planned attacks on aircraft, not only in Poland but worldwide. Tusk's comments came during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He did not provide further details on the specific plans but confirmed Russia’s involvement in orchestrating acts of terror against aviation.

Recent reports from The New York Times indicated that U.S. intelligence had warned the White House about Russia's intention to smuggle incendiary devices onto cargo planes bound for the U.S. The White House reportedly issued a warning to the Kremlin, urging them to halt the operation.

Moscow has previously been accused by various nations of targeting European transport infrastructure and interfering with GPS signals as part of Russia's broader campaign of hybrid warfare under President Vladimir Putin. In April 2024, Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka revealed that Russia had attempted to sabotage European railways on thousands of occasions since the onset of the full-scale war on Ukraine. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the claims as unfounded.

Russia was also recently implicated in the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger plane over Kazakhstan, which led to the deaths of 38 people. This incident was reminiscent of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, a tragedy that resulted in 298 fatalities. Although Putin expressed regret, he stopped short of taking responsibility for either disaster.

Sources:

• Politico
• New York Times