Counter terrorism police are now investigating an electrical substation fire that has shut London Heathrow Airport for the whole of today amid claims it could be a Russian sabotage attack linked to Vladimir Putin‘s campaign of disruption.
More than 1,300 flights to and from the UK’s busiest airport will be impacted today due to its closure following a fire at the nearby North Hyde electrical substation.
Thousands of homes were left without power with more than 100 people evacuated after a transformer at the substation caught fire as a huge explosion was heard.
Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
They allege that the disruption campaign is an extension of President Putin’s war, intended to sow division in European societies and undermine support for Ukraine – although the Kremlin has denied carrying out sabotage efforts against the West.
Now, experts are analysing whether Russia could be linked to the Heathrow fire, which is affecting 679 flights scheduled to land and 678 departures from the hub.
Counter terrorism police will be involved in the investigation given the need to quickly establish whether sabotage was involved and the pressing security questions relating to how a single fire took down a major piece of infrastructure, reported The Times.
It comes after Russian spies sent a package of electric sex toys to western Europe before concealing incendiary devices ignited in UK and German DHL depots last July in what was alleged to have been a test run for a potential US-bound flight attack.
Reacting to the Heathrow fire today, security expert Will Geddes, director and founder of the International Corporate Protection Group, told MailOnline: ‘Heathrow has been looking at expanding – this isn’t a great advert for their ability to do so safely.
‘If I was a foreign hostile party and I wanted to disrupt one of the busiest airports in the world, cause international embarrassment, create many, many question marks, I would target something like a substation.
A transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation in West London caught fire last night
This map shows disruption incidents Western officials have blamed on Russia and its proxies
Firefighters continue to exinguish the blaze at North Hyde electricity substation this morning
Parked planes and an empty runway at London Heathrow Terminal 5 today after it was closed
‘The Russians are looking at everything. They’re looking at our fibre optics under the sea, they’re looking at our nuclear power stations, we know hostile reconnaissance is going on right now.
‘So for this to be taken down so easily and cause such an impact, one has got to say if I was Russia, that’s where I would focus my attentions as well.’
He said the incident had the potential to be a similar act of sabotage to the fires on railway tracks in France ahead of the Paris Olympics in July.
Mr Geddes continued: ‘If anybody did this it would either be down to some serious reconnaissance in advance to determine that this was a massive vulnerability.
‘They would have had to determine what leaning and what depth of responsibility and sort of impact would this substation have not only obviously on the local homes, but also on Heathrow Airport itself.
‘Or you’ve got the easier, simpler answer that these guys have fallen asleep and they have not battle readied this substation for any type of eventuality of potential power outs, fires or anything like that.
‘Where is the fire suppression system, why has that not worked? Is that because it’s faulty or because it has been tampered with?’
He said Russia and other hostile states would be glad to see the chaos it has caused ‘and it’s not outside the scope of a foreign hostile state to attack a substation or a power or utility supply to a key site.’
Bob Seely, a Russia expert and former Conservative MP, told MailOnline that the chaos at Heathrow was at least a ‘warning’ about the threat of sabotage.
Passengers are facing travel chaos today after Heathrow Airport had to close due to a fire
An almost empty Arrivals Hall at Heathrow Terminal 4 in London this morning after its closure
He said: ‘This has exposed a massive security vulnerability. If a substation fire can shut down one of the world’s largest airports and Britain’s busiest airport, it shows a dangerous lack of resilience.
‘We should be building resilience into our critical national infrastructure, especially given the rise in Russian sabotage operations in Europe as well as the threat of home-grown terrorism or extremist protests designed to bring modern life to a halt.’
Dr Seely, whose new book ‘New Total War’ is out this summer, added: ‘Until we see different, this was very likely to have been an accident, but it is also a warning to us.
‘We need to design in and build in greater resilience in our critical national infrastructure.’
Sky News security and defence editor Deborah Haynes said: ‘Folk who track Russia’s campaign of unconventional warfare in Europe will likely wake up wondering if the fire that cut power to Heathrow was an accident or something sinister.
‘Understanding how or why the fire at a substation started will of course be key. Either way… this does really rather highlight the vulnerability of a piece of national infrastructure as critical as our largest and most important civilian airport.’
And Professor Lucy Easthope, an adviser on disaster response and recovery, and author of ‘When the Dust Settles’, added: ‘It actually does not matter whether it was a Bic lighter and pile of newspapers or a deliberate attack.
A fire caused by a suspected Russian incendiary device at a DHL depot in Birmingham last July
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow yesterday
‘Either shows up the current vulnerability of national infrastructure, civil defence – I use that term deliberately – and the resourcing of response and readiness.’
It comes after Richard Gaisford, chief correspondent for ITV’s Good Morning Britain, said: ‘Heathrow Airport is a key piece of UK national infrastructure.
‘Now brought to a standstill by a fire outside of its well protected boundaries, that creates chaos around the world. Security services must be considering sabotage.’
And Nick Ferrari asked on his LBC radio breakfast show: ‘Anybody know where Vladimir Putin was last night wandering around with a can of unleaded?’
Meanwhile Russian trolls on social media also claimed the Heathrow fire could have been a Putin sabotage operation.
One post on Kremlin-funded Readovka Telegram channel declared: ‘Petrov and Boshirov came to see the cathedral again.’
Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – real names Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin – were the notorious suspects in the Novichok poisonings of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018.
The GRU military intelligence officers, who posed as tourists visiting Salisbury Cathedral, are both wanted in Britain for murder and attempted murder.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he visits Northwood military headquarters in North West London yesterday to meet planners mapping out next steps in the ‘Coalition of the Willing’
But they have since been claimed to be spearheading a major Russian operation to sabotage Western countries.
Another comment said: ‘Are Petrov and Boshirov on vacation?’ And a third wrote: ‘Now Petrov and Boshirov went to see Big Ben. The excursion was a success.’
A fourth said: ‘Thus [with this fire] Putin is trying to break the will of the British people to help their Ukrainian brothers for free.’
And a fifth added said: ‘Are they going to look for a ‘Russian trace’ again?’
Back in the UK, the chairwoman of the Commons transport committee said it was ‘speculative’ to suggest at the moment that something sinister caused the Heathrow fire.
Asked by Times Radio if she thought the fire may have been caused intentionally, Labour MP Ruth Cadbury replied: ‘I think that’s somewhat speculative.
‘There are obviously questions about it, and I don’t know enough about electricity, but for the airport to be dependent on one substation, it does raise questions.’
She added it was ‘very, very concerning’ that ‘one substation can close down an airport and there isn’t an alternative source of energy’.
Workers clean up this morning after Russian drones hit shops in an attack on Odesa in Ukraine
A woman holds a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol earlier this week
Meanwhile Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the Government was doing everything it could to restore power to Heathrow.
He was asked by Sky News whether a Cobra meeting of senior ministers would be convened to address the matter.
Mr Miliband replied: ‘I’m sure the Government will be convening in the most appropriate way. I’m not going to anticipate the precise form of that, but I’m already in touch with my colleagues on this issue.
‘As I say, I’ve spoken to the National Grid, who are really at the epicentre of this, and we will be doing everything we can, both to restore power and help the National Grid.
‘To do that, and to ensure that the DfT (Department for Transport), and the Government as a whole, plays its part in, as best we can, minimising the disruption to passengers.’
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Miliband said the fire was ‘an unprecedented event’ and ‘we will have to look hard’ at ‘resilience’ for major institutions such as the airport.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I spoke to the National Grid this morning. There’s obviously been a catastrophic fire at this substation, an unprecedented event actually in their experience.
‘It appears to have knocked out a back-up generator as well as the substation itself. What I know is that they are working as hard as they can to restore power as well as the fire being put out.
A photo taken from a Russian Defense Ministry Press Service video released this week shows a Russian ‘Grad’ self-propelled multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions
Ukrainian firefighters put out a blaze this morning following a Russian attack in Odesa
‘It’s too early to say what caused this but I think obviously we will have to look hard at the causes and also the protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow. With any event like this we’ll have to both understand its causes and learn lessons from it.’
The fire came after the Associated Press documented 59 incidents in which European governments, prosecutors, intelligence services or other Western officials blamed Russia, groups linked to Russia or its ally Belarus for cyberattacks, spreading propaganda, plotting killings or committing acts of vandalism, arson, sabotage or espionage since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The incidents range from stuffing car exhausts with expanding foam in Germany to a plot to plant explosives on cargo planes.
They include setting fire to stores and a museum; hacking that targeted politicians and critical infrastructure; and spying by a ring convicted in the UK.
Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6, called it a ‘staggeringly reckless campaign’ in November.
Proving Russia’s involvement in any incidents can be difficult, and the Kremlin has denied carrying out a sabotage campaign against the West – but more governments are publicly attributing attacks to Russia.
The alleged disruption has a double purpose, according to James Appathurai, the Nato official responsible for the alliance’s response to such threats.
One is to create ‘political disquiet’ and undermine citizens’ support for their governments and the other is to ‘undercut support for Ukraine,’ said Mr Appathurai, deputy assistant secretary-general for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber.
Firefighters at a damaged building after a Russian strike in Kostiantynivka earlier this month
During its investigation, the AP spoke to 15 current officials, including two prime ministers, and officials from five European intelligence services, three defence ministries and Nato, in addition to experts.
Experts say the scope of the campaign is particularly worrying at a time when US support for Ukraine is wavering and European allies are questioning Washington’s reliability as a security partner and ally.
The cases are varied, and the largest concentrations are in countries that are major supporters of Ukraine.
Some incidents had the potential for catastrophic consequences, including mass casualties, as when packages exploded at shipping facilities in Germany and the UK Western officials said they suspected the packages were part of a broader plot by Russian intelligence to put bombs on cargo planes headed to the US and Canada.
In another case, Western intelligence agencies uncovered what they said was a Russian plot to kill the head of a major German arms manufacturer that is a supplier of weapons to Ukraine.
European authorities are investigating several cases of damage to infrastructure under the Baltic Sea, including to a power cable linking Estonia and Finland.
Finnish authorities detained a ship, suspected of being part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ used to avoid sanctions, after that cable and others were damaged.
Estonian naval ships sail in the Baltic Sea in January, as part of stepped-up Nato patrols in the region following suspected sabotage of undersea cables
When a fake French Defence Ministry website claimed citizens were being called up to fight in Ukraine, a French minister denounced it as Russian disinformation.
German authorities suspect Russia was behind a campaign to block up scores of car exhausts ahead of national elections, according to a European intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Officials from Estonia, Poland, Latvia and Finland, meanwhile, have accused Russia and Belarus of directing migrants to their borders.
Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told the AP that the Kremlin has never been shown ‘any proofs’ supporting the accusations and said ‘certainly we definitely reject any allegations.’
The AP scoured through hundreds of incidents suspected to be linked to Russia since Moscow’s invasion that were reported in open sources such as local media and government websites.
They were included in the AP’s tally only when officials drew a clear link to Russia, pro-Russian groups or ally Belarus.
Most of the accusations were made to or reported by the AP, either at the time they occurred or during the course of this investigation. Fourteen cases were reported by other news organizations and attributed to named officials.
In about a quarter of the cases, prosecutors have brought charges or courts have convicted people of carrying out the sabotage. But in many more, no specific culprit has been publicly identified or brought to justice.
Countries have always spied on their enemies and long waged propaganda campaigns to further their interests abroad.
Mugshots released by the Metropolitan Police show (from left) Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev, who were convicted in the UK of spying for Russia
But since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has become ‘bolder,’ hitting the West with sabotage, vandalism and arson in addition to the tactics it previously used, including killings and cyberattacks, said Elisabeth Braw, an expert on the attacks at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
‘The way you can weaken a country today is not by invading it,’ she said.
China has also been accused of espionage and cyber operations in Europe, and The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian authorities were responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in 2022. Kyiv has denied this.
‘Multiple countries engage in hybrid operations,’ said David Salvo, managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund. ‘Russia is the overwhelming culprit in Europe.’
A coordinated approach – especially sharing intelligence – is critical to tracking and countering the threats, Mr Appathurai said.
That cooperation – never easy since intelligence is not shared collectively across Nato members – faces new challenges now, as the Trump administration increasingly questions the role of the alliance, embraces Russia and spars with its European partners.
Still, as the scale of the campaign becomes clearer, some nations are becoming more assertive.
Mr Appathurai pointed to the approach to suspected sabotage in the Baltic Sea, where Nato has launched a mission to protect critical infrastructure.
‘If we are to have a chance of stemming the threat,’ Ms Braw said, ‘then we have to work together.’