GENEVA

Lithuanian prosecutors have charged six foreign nationals with "terrorism" over an alleged plot to attack a private military supplier providing aid to Ukraine, authorities said Friday.

According to the public broadcaster LRT, the case has been referred to court over a planned September 2024 attack in the northern city of Siauliai.

The General Prosecutor’s Office reportedly said the suspects are accused of participating in a terror group, attempting to commit a terrorist act and financing terrorism. The indictment was submitted to the Siauliai Regional Court earlier this month, according to Arturas Urbelis, chief prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department.

"The defendants hold various citizenships: one Spanish citizen, one dual Spanish-Colombian citizen, and citizens of Colombia, Cuba, Russia and Belarus," Urbelis said.

The report cited prosecutors saying the alleged target was the infrastructure and products of UAB TVC Solutions, including mobile radio spectrum analysis stations intended for Ukraine’s armed forces.

Investigations into four additional suspects are ongoing. One suspect has been arrested in Colombia under an international warrant and is undergoing extradition proceedings to Lithuania, while international arrest warrants have been issued for three others.

Lithuanian authorities said the group’s activities may have been coordinated from Russia, with links to the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Prosecutors said, according to the report, there are "reasonable grounds to suspect the attempted sabotage ... was carried out on the orders of and for the benefit of the GRU."

The most serious charge carries a potential prison sentence of five to 15 years under Lithuanian law, the report noted.

Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, said at a news conference that the attack was planned in advance and carried out in multiple stages, the report also noted.

He said several suspects initially traveled to Lithuania to gather intelligence on the targeted company and its infrastructure and relay the information to the organizers of the plot. A Spanish citizen and a Spanish Colombian national later arrived with instructions to carry out the attack.

"They arrived with the specific task of setting fire to the radio spectrum analysis stations," Briginas reportedly said, adding that investigators determined the suspects obtained gasoline and other materials intended to be used in the arson.

The attempted attack failed after passersby intervened, he said. The suspects then fled to Latvia, where they were detained by Latvian authorities.

Police said that a few days later, two additional suspects, citizens of Russia and Belarus, entered Lithuania in an attempt to complete the attack.