Lithuania says Russia responsible for exploding parcels that caused fires

Russia is behind explosive parcels sent from Lithuania to European countries, a Lithuanian presidential adviser said on Tuesday, amid alarm amongst Nato countries that sabotage organised by Moscow nearly caused an air disaster.

Western governments and intelligence agencies in Europe have previously pointed to Moscow as being the source of a series of fires and acts of sabotage in Europe aimed at destabilising allies of Ukraine.

Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported in October that explosive parcels that caused fires in courier depots in Britain, Germany and Poland in July originated in Lithuania.

Britain and Germany have been investigating packages that burst into flames at depots in Birmingham and Leipzig, with Berlin saying a plane crash had been narrowly avoided when an air freight parcel caught fire.

"We are telling our allies that it's not random, it's part of military operations," Kestutis Budrys, an advisor to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, told Ziniu radio on Tuesday.

"We need to neutralise and stop it at the source, and the source is Russia's military intelligence," he said.

Budrys' comments were the first time a Lithuanian official has pointed the finger at Russian military intelligence for a specific act of sabotage.