Lithuania says Russian military intelligence was behind an arson attack at an Ikea store in Vilnius

The new Ikea store along Market Street is seen on its opening day in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuanian authorities on Monday accused Russian military intelligence of being behind an arson attack at an IKEA store in the Lithuanian capital last year.

The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office said it filed an indictment in the case of a person charged with the arson of the Ikea shopping center in Vilnius on May 9, 2024.

It said the suspect was a minor at the time and acted “in the interests of the military structures and security services of the Russian Federation.”

The prosecutor general’s office said in a statement that the suspect and another person undertook during a secret meeting in Warsaw, the capital of neighboring Poland, to set fire to and blow up shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia for a reward of 10,000 euros. The reward also included a BMW, the statement said.

“These terrorist acts were aimed at severely intimidating the society of both countries, illegally forcing the Republic of Lithuania, the European Union and other states to reduce or terminate their support for the Republic of Ukraine, as well as destabilizing the most important political, economic and social structures of the state,” it said.

Poland and the Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — are among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion.