"And we're not taking the Russian threat seriously."

"It's waging this war on Western democracies as a whole. The idea is not just to be allowed to win in Ukraine. It would be a big mistake to draw the lesson that if we maybe stop helping Ukraine, things will be fine and we're going to go back to a normal relationship with Russia."

"I think what's much more likely are things getting blown up in countries that are closer to Russia in eastern Europe. [Russia wants to signal] that maybe it's not worth it for NATO to defend three small Baltic countries. It's definitely a test of NATO's resolve."

Maria Popova, associate professor of political science, McGill University

Associated Press

"[Western security officials] believe that two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada, as Moscow steps up a sabotage campaign against Washington and its allies."

"Investigators and spy agencies in Europe have figured out how the devices -- electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance -- were made and concluded that they were part of a wider Russian plot." 

"[Security officials are saying the devices] sent to the U.K. from Lithuania, appear to have been a test run to figure out how to get such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America."

The Wall Street Journal

According to the Wall Street Journal, the devices in question alarmed authorities when they ignited at DHL logistics hubs in Leipzig, Germany and Birmingham England this past July: "The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits." Subsequently four people were arrested by Polish authorities in connection with the fires, and "charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency".

 

Authorities in Poland have arrested four people in connection with an alleged plot to mail explosives to Canada and the United States. CBC still from video

 

"We have never heard any official accusations" of Russian involvement was the response by a Kremlin spokesman. As in: 'who ... us? ...' And according to Maria Popova, the Russia expert, the plot now revealed is meant to bring down aircraft on their way to Canada and the United States, but its purpose is not just related to Western opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but to completely erode Western democracies altogether, as inimical not only to the Kremlin's ambitions of territorial and influence expansion, but to remove the source of opposition entirely.

There will be, Ms. Popova predicts, an escalation of "hybrid attacks meant to chip away and erode NATO's unity". To that end, one possibility is that Canada will be confronted with "hostile moves" from Russia in the Arctic. "We're not fully aware that Russia is aggressive as opposed to insecure and defensive".  

"[The West keeps] hoping that restraint on our part will create goodwill in Russia, and I think that is just fundamentally mistaken. Only strength on our part can create respect and can contain Russia."

"They see that we're not, in fact, shoring up our capability to ... defend the Arctic. We're continuing to count on the NATO umbrella and count on the fact that the United States provides security for us."

"And we're not taking the Russian threat seriously."

Maria Popova, Russia expert

The DHL Air Hub, the air freight center at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany.   Heiko Rebsch / picture-alliance/dpa/AP file