Two devices that ignited in Europe, officials say, were part of a covert operation to put them on cargo or passenger aircraft
Would this not count as a direct attack against the US?
From the article it seems that was the long term plan, the Ger-Eng test run got busted before it could be used on the US.
Paywalled: https://archive.is/oihRl
Western security officials say they 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.
The devices ignited at DHL logistics hubs in July, one in Leipzig, Germany, and another in Birmingham, England. The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits.
Now 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, according to security officials and people familiar with the probe.
