A DHL cargo plane that crashed into a residential area in Vilnius, Lithuania, has led to speculation that it may have been part of a deliberate test by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to German Bundeswehr Chief Inspector Carsten Breuer.
Speaking on the German talk show hosted by Sandra Maischberger, Breuer hinted at the possibility of the Kremlin orchestrating the incident as part of a broader hybrid warfare strategy.
“We experienced a similar situation earlier this summer, and now something has happened that fits this pattern,” said Breuer during the ARD talk show, referring to an incident in which a parcel from the Baltic region containing an incendiary device burst into flames at a logistics center in Leipzig. Breuer’s comments suggest that the DHL crash could be yet another escalation in Russia’s ongoing campaign of hybrid operations.
According to Breuer, if Putin was behind the crash of the DHL plane in Vilnius, he would have created a hybrid state of affairs—“a state that is no longer fully peaceful but not yet full-scale war either.” Breuer added, “This involves testing how far one can push.” The general’s assessment paints the incident not as an isolated aviation mishap, but as a calculated move aimed at probing the resilience of the West.
“This is not about Ukraine, nor about Russia—it’s about the West,” Breuer continued. He suggested that Putin’s goal is to discredit the Western system to prevent it from gaining influence in Russia.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking during a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, echoed the concern about the nature of the crash. “The fact that we, together with our Lithuanian and Spanish partners, must now seriously question whether this was an accident or yet another hybrid incident demonstrates the volatile times we are living in,” Baerbock said.
Lithuanian authorities are also considering the possibility of a terrorist motive behind the incident. Last month, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution reported that Germany narrowly avoided a potential aircraft crash following a firebomb attack on an air cargo package, which was suspected to have been initiated by Russia.
The DHL cargo plane, which originated in Leipzig, crashed during an emergency landing approximately one kilometer from Vilnius airport early Monday morning. According to Lithuanian police, the aircraft slid hundreds of meters across the ground before crashing into multiple homes. One Spanish crew member lost their life in the crash, while three other crew members from Germany, Spain, and Lithuania sustained injuries.
The crash underscores concerns that Russia may be stepping up its use of hybrid tactics to test the boundaries of Western defenses and resilience. Hybrid warfare, characterized by a blend of conventional military tactics, misinformation, economic pressure, and sabotage, has become a hallmark of Russian strategy in recent years. The DHL crash and its possible link to Russian actions adds yet another layer of complexity to the tense relations between Russia and Western nations.
As investigations continue, German and Lithuanian authorities remain focused on uncovering the truth behind the DHL crash.
Earlier, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in the United States declassified a 2016 memorandum on political assassinations abroad. The two-page report was prepared at the request of U.S. Congressional intelligence committees. It details incidents of assassinations of political opponents and defectors since Putin came to power in 2000, outlining methods of elimination and assessing the role of Russian leadership in these operations.
Bloomberg reported that this unprecedented document became publicly available after eight years of persistent efforts by journalists. Whether it was indeed an orchestrated act or a tragic accident, the incident highlights the need for heightened vigilance in an era of increasingly unconventional threats to security. The declassified memorandum, made available largely due to the persistence of Bloomberg journalist Jason Leopold, who since 2017, while working at BuzzFeed News, pursued investigations into Kremlin-linked assassinations and advocated for the document’s release through Freedom of Information Act requests.
The report lists some of the most well-known instances of political assassinations abroad, such as the killing of Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar in 2004 through a car bombing, which was attributed to two officers of Russian military intelligence. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, poisoned with dioxin during the 2004 election campaign, was also mentioned as a victim of Kremlin efforts to eliminate political figures deemed threats to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
