Russia accused of election agitation, firebomb plot

What happened

Russia is the "most active threat" among foreign adversaries conducting "influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans," U.S. intelligence and cybersecurity agencies said in a joint statement Monday night. European security officials separately accused Russian operatives of plotting to smuggle incendiary devices aboard European cargo or passenger planes headed for the U.S. and Canada, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Who said what

The explosions of two incendiary devices at DHL logistics hubs in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, England, in July "set off a multinational race to find the culprits," the Journal said. European security officials determined that Russian operatives had sent the devices — electronic massagers fitted with a highly flammable form of magnesium — from Lithuania to the U.K., apparently in a "test run to figure out how to get such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America."

The package being transferred in Leipzig luckily "ignited on the ground rather than during a flight, preventing what could have been a catastrophic situation," a German security official said to The Washington Post. Lithuania reportedly arrested a suspect who mailed four incendiary devices while Poland detained four people allegedly tied to the plot, part of broader Russian sabotage operations aimed at NATO countries.

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"I'm not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event," said Pawel Szota, the head of Poland's foreign intelligence agency. European officials said it was "unclear whether the scheme was directed by the Kremlin or by lower-level intelligence officials," the Post said. Russia called the accusations "unsubstantiated insinuations."

What next?

The Russian efforts to "discredit" the U.S. electoral process and "stoke partisan discord are likely to continue not just on Election Day and in the immediate days after as the certification process continues, but really up until Jan. 6," Cait Conley, a top adviser at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said to the Times.