Russia – which shot down a civilian airliner just before Christmas is planning “a major terrorist campaign against aircraft” in the West, according to the Prime Minister of Poland.
“I can only confirm that Russia planned acts of air terror, not just against Poland but against airlines across the globe,” said Tusk during a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
None of this should be surprising to View From The Wing readers. Two and a half months ago I wrote that intelligence officials had determined that Russia has undertaken a covert operation to place incendiary devices aboard cargo or passenger planes heading for the U.S. and Canada, and a dry run over the summer involved placing explosives inside massagers that were being shipped DHL. In July 2024 initial attempts failed, igniting at logistics hubs in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, England.
The devices, which originated in Lithuania, were found to contain a magnesium-based flammable substance, capable of starting fires upon ignition. The New York Times was reporting on these efforts this week.
- The Biden administration sought to make Vladimir Putin aware of the efforts, in case this was freelancing by his intelligence service
- And warn him that this would escalate conflict with the West, rather than breaking its resolve to support Ukraine
Poland detained four suspects in the plot to sabotage Western allies of Ukraine. So it’s not surprising that Poland’s Prime Minister is speaking to this.
I suggested at the time that there’s a potential for future restrictions not just on massagers but on a range of small electronics or tech items that passengers currently travel with. I’m not sure we want to live in a world where personal massagers (and ‘massagers’) are being confiscated en masse at security.
(HT: Paul H)
Ohhhh, not to worry. Surely Donald will handle this …
And then computers. And then phones.
Says the same people who say Russia blew up its own Nord stream pipeline. They’ll probably blame Russia for the wildfires in Canada next.
But of course they won’t talk about Israel putting incendiary devices in electronic devices to commit a war crime and terrorist attack in Lebanon.
I really thought Russia had advanced from the days of Beria and Stalin, and a million people did flee the country, but the incompetent and bloody way they initially handled their horrible attack on the Ukraine showed no strategic learning in 80 years. Then outsourcing to the Wagner group, who are exploiting central Africa with utter brutality, and buying cannon fodder from North Korea (allegedly shooting the wounded to cover this up) show no moral progress either.
Now it is possible that Putin doesn’t realize that these alleged bombing plans are going on, but then that indicates he is losing control of things. There is only one answer, shine as bright a light as you can on this allegation, because Moscow always calculates exactly how much it can get away with, and then pushes things to the limit. If possible it then resets the limits further out and does it again.
I feel sorry for the people in Washington who have to deal with this. Most likely they know what is going on and what to do about it. But they are about to have a boss who thinks every dictator is his friend and every situation can be bought off. The “stable genius” is neither.
The drones involved were Ukrainian drones that were flying near airliners as cover to infiltrate areas they wanted, and got the airliners shot down.
Jill is correct. Commander Thor from the Ice Wall (look it up) told me this was the case. Wise up people.
If one thinks strong men are dangerous, we’ve already seen what weak men can do. First rattle out of the box, is 13+ young soldiers killed unnecessarily in pullout of Afghanistan.
And of course, you can trust the Communists——-to be Communists! They need to be taught a lesson they will NEVER forget.
Putin’s Russia is not, has not, and should not be our friend. Yet, we’re about to cozy up to them, because like in Helsinki 2018, he’ll say nice things to Dear Leader. We will all pay the price.
The recent Azerbaijan flight incident (the one ‘before Christmas’ that Gary referred to) is the closest Russia (and Putin personally) has come to actually admitting that it shot down that plane (whether intentionally or accidentally, then tried to force it to ditch into the Caspian Sea rather than actually assist those poor bastards). Those pilots are heroes for saving anyone, even though they themselves did not make it.
Further back, we’d need to look at the Korean Air 007 in 1983, shot down by the Soviets (basically, Russia, c’mon, let’s not play semantics), which ironically led to the sharing of GPS, in hopes of preventing such ‘confusion’ again. We have apps like FlightAware to publicly track aircraft thanks to this. Still, not worth the loss of life.
I know, I know.. some will claim the US does this too, see Iran Air 655 in 1988, so thanks in-advance for the both-sides-isms, but more likely than not it was a mistake, and the US has not done this since. Russia on the other hand, has several additional incidents which suggest they have continued, likely out of malice in a hybrid war against the West.
In 2010, the Polish president and much of its government died in a plane crash in Russia; it is debatable whether the Russians purposely or accidentally misguided them in the fog. Was it a direct or incidental benefit to Russia that the next administration in Poland was pro-Putin. Thankfully, the Poles wised up and are now firmly against Russia, supporting Ukraine.
Since MH17 in 2014, it was clear that either through gross negligence or malicious intent, Russia and its military killed hundreds of innocent lives, then tried to cover it up. Ask anyone from the Netherlands how they feel about this. Upsettingly, it is hard to prosecute the perpetrators in absentia.
Then, with the downing of Prigozhin’s private jet in 2023, after his failed uprising, it seemed also that Putin and his regime were willing to kill their opponents and perceived enemies through sabotage of aircraft, though of course they will rely on plausible deniability.
These new revelations of attempted and planned sabotage by the Russians and their accomplices is deeply concerning. It’s not just aircraft, the undersea cables (in the Baltic) and factories in Europe are under attack (Germany).
So, this is probably not the end of this. Western airlines should definitely not be flying over Russian airspace for the foreseeable future, especially while the war continues, even if it add hours of flight time and costs for extra fuel. And when the ‘next time’ does happen, we should not be surprised; we must expect the misinformation and disinformation from their side; and we must thoroughly investigate and hold them accountable if at fault.
Finally, as the underlying issue here is Russia’s abuse of power and its expansionist territorial ambitions, I must say once more: The free peoples’ of this world still support and believe that Ukraine is a great country, and I hope they get peace AND justice, soon. They deserve so much better than this. And yes, the US and its allies providing military aid has been a good decision. Sending them our old weapons creates jobs here in America to make new ones. Stop lying that it’s a waste of money. It’s good for our economy.
Fake news!
The real bad guy is Justin Trudeau, he’s so mean…
It’s most likely another CIA-run false flag. They are experts at this sort of thing.
Sounds like David Arnett has a severe case of keffiyitis lol time to go serve your derrière to your hezbputa overlords
“Sending them our old weapons creates jobs here in America to make new ones. Stop lying that it’s a waste of money. It’s good for our economy.”
The level of economic illiteracy required to make that statement is stunning.
@Mike P
Thanks for actually reading that far.
This supposed ‘non-interventionist’, end the ‘forever wars,’ so-called ‘America First’ ideology is a joke if Dear Leader is already suggesting annexing neighbors like Greenland, Canada (‘economically’ *wink*) or taking back the Panama Canal.
Who knows if any of that is serious, or if it’s a favor to Putin so as to normalize this behavior and give him a pass for his war of choice and aggression in Ukraine.
Rest assured, the US will continue to spend big money on the military; they always get fed, son. Yeah, it’s ‘good’ for our economy—lots of jobs, that’s undeniable.
As for Russia, I get it, conservative media really started fanboying for Putin in the last couple years. I guess they really felt the Russians would help them win elections—and maybe they did. Getting material assistance from a foreign adversary used to be considered treasonous.
Anyway, if you’re in that part of the world, do be careful around ‘open windows’ if you know what I mean.
“Yeah, it’s ‘good’ for our economy—lots of jobs, that’s undeniable.”
Sorry, but your “argument” that building war materials that are sent to other countries and used to destroy property and men, is a boon for our economy, represents economic nonsense. Using your “logic” we can expand our economy by creating more war. Your position is similar to those economic “geniuses” that suggest hurricanes, tornados and fires are good for the economy because they lead to rebuilding all those destroyed structures.
To prove your point, give me your address and I’ll stop by with an axe and chainsaw and take down your house, then we’ll see how much your wealth increases. Societies don’t grow wealthier by building things that destroy, they expand by offering goods and services that lead to an expanding economy. Finally, if we weren’t building war materials, those employees and resources would be used to create something that benefits society. Your understanding of basic economics is sorely lacking.
This may help you.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/broken-window-fallacy.asp
@Mike P
Yeah, I’m gonna draw the line at axes and chainsaws, even if that was in jest.
On the economic and political nonsense you’re spewing—why not blame DEI or some other boogeyman?
At this point, I’d settle for passenger aircraft not being shot out of sky by Russia or anyone.
And my personal support for Ukraine and its people remains unchanged.
Thank you, I accept your surrender.
@Mike P
Good morning, comrade. I’m still here.
Your premature celebration reminds me of a planned 3-day ‘special military operation’ that turned into a years-long war. Speaking of, Russia is an actual example of how excessive military spending can be bad for the economy. I get it, though, I wouldn’t want to be sent to the meat-grinder either.
My point remains that Putin acts with impunity as his military shoots down commercial aircraft, like Korean Air 007 and MH17 in the past, Wagner’s jet and Azerbaijan 8243 more recently. Many of us who actually care about aviation would prefer that not to happen again. That’s why many airlines take different routes these days. The recent warnings on sabotage are very much real and deeply concerning.
See you again soon, I’m sure.
You have difficulty staying on point, which leads to rambling on and avoiding the only argument I was addressing. I offered no opinion regarding Putin, Ukraine or the war.
My only comment was regarding your erroneous statement about building armaments as a means to grow an economy. My goal was to prove you wrong. Mission Accomplished!
Anyone remember what happened in 2017 where DHS decided to ban electronics larger than a cell phone in carry-on **but not checked** baggage on flights from some countries?
A lot of people are probably worried that the bureaucrats will do something dumb again.
@Mike P
*slow clap*
You did, sir. Historians of the future will harken back to early 2025 when Mike P achieved world peace by claiming the military is bad for the economy on a random (sorry, an ‘esteemed’ thought leader’s) blog about aviation.
Recall that Gary’s post is about the Russians sabotaging aircraft (check the title above). Your opinion on the Russians is clear, earlier you blamed the ‘CIA’ …
So, where shall the Swedish Academy send your Nobel Prize monies to? Keep in mind, because of the pesky sanctions, they cannot send directly to Moscow or St. Petersburg, but it might work if you used an intermediary like India, UAE, or even Turkey (I know, NATO member, but, like, they play both sides anyway).
See you again soon, no doubt.
I love it! The classic “backhanded compliment”. It usually shows up when someone is proven wrong and can’t admit it and leave it at that. In other words, the sign of a weak individual.
@Mike P
It’s just that I admire your strength. Like, you are so strong to say such powerful things to me and others here. Some would say, you’re a… strong-man. You know, like, a dictator who shoots down civilian aircraft. Ugh, there it is again—the actual subject of this post. *facepalm*
@Mike P(ee)
It’s been a few days. Hope you’re ok, buddy. Perhaps, your bosses at the FSB or GRU gave you some leave after your nice tries above. Or, they finally pushed you out of a window. RIP. Rest in pee!