Lithuanian prosecutors consider the fire at the Ikea store in Vilnius last May to be a terrorist attack as they have referred the case to court.
Lithuanian officials say they have established that the attack was carried out by a terrorist group and may have been masterminded and ordered by people linked to Russian special services.
“The indictment has been signed and the case is going to the Vilnius Regional Court. [...] The charges are filed under three articles of the Criminal Code, namely, for committing a terrorist act, training for terrorist purposes and illegal disposal of explosives,” Artūras Urbelis, chief prosecutor at the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, told reporters on Monday.
The crime was deemed terrorist activity with serious consequences, causing severe damage to the shop and endangering people, the prosecutor said. Although the fire broke out at around 04:00 in the morning, when the shop was closed, there were about ten people in the building at the time.
Ordered by Russians, executed by Ukrainians
The pre-trial investigation found that the immediate perpetrators of the crime were two individuals under the age of 20. One of them, who is being brought to court, was a minor.
“Therefore, the details of this person will not be provided,” the prosecutor said, adding that both perpetrators are Ukrainian citizens.
“One person is currently detained in Poland, and we are in the process of handing over a part of the case to our Polish counterparts, which has been agreed upon, this crime is being investigated by a joint investigation team, and we are coordinating our actions with the Poles,” Urbelis said.
He noted that the Ikea fire is one of the first cases in the country where the crime is judged as having been committed by a terrorist group.
The investigation into the fire at the Ikiea warehouse was launched on May 9, 2024. Urbelis says there were suspicions back then that it might have been linked to Russian special services, military structures or other security units.
“In the course of the investigation, it has been established that the masterminds behind these actions were linked to Russia through a series of intermediaries [...], and they have links with military intelligence and security forces,” the prosecutor said. “Since a terrorist group has been identified in this case, there are more people suspected of committing this crime.”
According to the prosecutor, the group was coordinated through social media and used classified messages.
“Instructions and orders were given directly to the perpetrators, and the perpetrators, through several intermediate links, did not know who the key masterminds were, and the Criminal Police have managed to establish the sequence as far as possible,” Urbelis said.
In his words, the pre-trial investigation into the organisation of this crime continues, and an international search has been launched for some of the individuals.
“We are talking about dozens [of members of the group], when it comes to all the chains and mentors, [...] it is a very multilevel system of giving instructions, it is very complex, that is why the investigation is qualified as complex,” Urbelis said. “And it involves not only Ukrainians, let’s not put the emphasis on it, we also have Lithuanian, Russian and Ukrainian citizens, [...] there are many nationalities.”
BMW as reward
Also speaking at the press conference, Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, said that the accused had come to Lithuania several times before committing the crime and made preparations: scouted the store, took photos, picked retreat routes, and bought necessary tools.
“The investigation revealed that the incendiary device was hidden among easily ignitable goods overnight before the store closed,” he said.
According to Urbelis, the Ukrainian nationals came to Lithuania from Poland. The planning for the attack took place in April last year when the perpetrators received a direct order to go to Lithuania, and then on April 19 they scouted the Ikea shop in the northern town of Šiauliai.
“Then they were instructed to go to Vilnius [...] for all the reconnaissance, logistics, the acquisition of some vehicles, assessing the situation. Then they went back to Poland, came back to Lithuania again on April 30 to gather additional information,” he said.
The indictment states that the explosive device was planted in the store around 20:53 on May 8 and activated by a mechanism at around 04:00 on May 9.
According to the prosecution service, after filming the fire and transmitting the video, the accused, together with another person, followed the instructions and immediately disposed of the remaining electric igniters, the clothes worn at the crime scene, and other small items, and they used a pre-arranged car to go to Warsaw where they received a BMW 530 as a reward for the task and where they were also promised 10,000 euros.
Arrested on the way to carry out another attack
Lithuanian officials arrested the suspect on May 13 last year, after receiving information that he had arrived in Lithuania and was on his way to Riga by bus to carry out another attack, taking with him the tools he kept in Lithuania.
According to Briginas, the operation of detaining the suspect took place on the Vilnius-Riga road near Panevėžys.
“During the detention, we found him in possession of incendiary-explosive materials, as well as electronic detonators and clockwork electronic mechanisms to activate these detonators,” he said. “This is how another crime planned in Latvia was prevented.”
It is not known whether the mastermind targeted an Ikea store in Latvia, Briginas said, adding that the identified perpetrators and intermediaries were also linked to crimes committed in Poland.
“They are linked to certain arson attacks [in Poland] but we cannot say that they are all connected,” Briginas said.
According to the prosecutor, Ikea stores were not accidental targets – the Swedish furniture company closed its stores in Russia and stopped some production after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“The Ikea colours – blue and yellow, yellow bags – are very symbolic of Ukraine, and clearly this act has a symbolic meaning, and we also know about the celebration of May 9 and what it is for. There’s a lot of symbolism in this case,” Urbelis said.
The indictment was accompanied by a civil claim for 485,000 euros for damage done to the Ikea store in Lithuania. Briginas said that major damage was only avoided thanks to Ikea employees.
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