Findings from Lithuania’s prosecutors revealed that Russia’s GRU intelligence agency was behind the May 2024 arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius.
On Monday, Artūras Urbelis, chief prosecutor of Lithuania’s organized crime and corruption department, stated that the fire was a terrorist act orchestrated and funded by Russia. “We consider this a terrorist act with serious consequences,” he told reporters.
He added that two Ukrainian citizens were suspects in the IKEA arson case, with one detained in Lithuania and the other in Poland.
According to a press release published on Monday, the prosecutor general’s office has submitted a criminal case to the court charging one individual with the arson attack on the IKEA shopping center.
According to the findings, the suspect, who was a minor at the time of the attack, had ties to “Russian military and security services” and received payment of €10,000 as part of a terrorist organization planning attacks in both Lithuania and Latvia.
Urbelis said the suspect had an accomplice in Poland. He noted that while preparing for the attacks, “the accused repeatedly traveled between Poland and Lithuania, collected information, and transmitted it to other group members via encrypted communication channels to aid in planning terrorist acts.”
According to the prosecutor, the suspect planted a timed fuse at the IKEA store on May 9, 2024. After filming the fire and sending the footage, he fled to Warsaw and received a BMW as payment. He was arrested while en route to carry out a similar attack in Riga.
“The attacks aimed to spread fear, pressure Lithuania, the EU, and other nations into reducing support for Ukraine, and destabilize key political, economic, and social structures,” the prosecutor general office’s statement read.
Commenting on the recent development, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a post on X said the findings of the prosecutors office confirmed the suspicions of Lithuania and their allies. He also criticized the country for hiring Ukrainians for the attack. “Like the attempted arson of a paint factory in Wrocław, they hired Ukrainian citizens to carry it out, a highly deceitful tactic,” he said.
“Good to know before negotiations. Such is the nature of this state,” Tusk added, referring to possible peace talks on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Litewska prokuratura oświadczyła, że za podpaleniami w Wilnie i w Warszawie ( Marywilska) stoją rosyjskie służby specjalne. Zgodnie z naszymi podejrzeniami. Podobnie jak przy próbie podpalenia fabryki farb we Wrocławiu, Rosjanie wynajęli obywateli Ukrainy. Wyjątkowa perfidia.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) March 17, 2025
Last week, Poland charged a Belarusian national, identified as Stepan K. under Polish privacy law, with orchestrating a terrorist arson attack in Warsaw on behalf of Russia.
Authorities noted that the fire was set in a manner similar to the one at Marywilska a month later. They also disclosed that Stepan K.’s case was connected to a broader investigation into arson attacks on large stores across Poland and other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.
