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Poland has detained and charged two Ukrainian citizens accused of carrying out espionage and acts of sabotage on behalf of Russia.
The men, aged 24 and 25, were allegedly paid to conduct reconnaissance of critical infrastructure and military facilities across Poland. They are also accused of setting fire to several vehicles with the aim of stoking anti-Ukrainian sentiment.
Funkcjonariusze Agencji Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego zatrzymali w Mińsku Mazowieckim dwóch obywateli Ukrainy w wieku 24 i 25 lat podejrzanych o szpiegostwo i prowadzenie działań dywersyjnych na zlecenie rosyjskich służb specjalnych.
▶️ Mężczyźni rozpoznawali i robili zdjęcia… pic.twitter.com/G3i8hEsBHT
— Tomasz Siemoniak (@TomaszSiemoniak) November 10, 2026
The suspects were detained by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) on 3 November in Mińsk Mazowiecki, a town just outside Warsaw, the capital. ABW officers also searched their residences and other locations connected to the investigation, seizing data storage devices and narcotics.
According to investigators, the suspects were tasked with setting vehicles on fire after changing their licence plates to ones used by Ukrainian military vehicles. This was “aimed at fueling anti-Ukrainian sentiment”, says the National Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors have charged the men under Poland’s espionage law with working against Poland on behalf of a foreign intelligence service – a crime that carries a minimum prison sentence of five years – and sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence, which is punishable by 10 years to life.
At the prosecutor’s request, a court ordered both suspects to be placed in pretrial detention for three months.
In recent years, Poland has seen a huge rise in cases of espionage and sabotage carried out on behalf of Russia.
The ABW launched 48 investigations related to espionage last year, more than twice as many as in 2024. In those two years taken together, there were more espionage investigations than over the previous three decades combined.
Earlier this year, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism published a report identifying Poland as the “primary focus” of Russia’s campaign of sabotage in Europe.
Four men – three Ukrainians and a Belarusian – have gone on trial in Warsaw accused of being part of a criminal group that carried out a series of arson attacks in Poland and Lithuania on behalf of Russia https://t.co/i4czRb9DYZ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 12, 2026
Last month, a Polish man was jailed for five and a half years for spying on behalf of Russia. The tasks assigned to him included reconnaissance of an airport as part of a possible plan to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while he travelled through Poland.
Shortly afterwards, the trial began of four men – three Ukrainians and one Belarusian – accused of being part of a criminal group that carried out a series of arson attacks in Poland and Lithuania on Russian orders.
In July, a Russian married couple with refugee status in Poland were convicted of working as spies on behalf of Moscow. In October, a member of Poland’s military reserve, who holds both Polish and Ukrainian citizenship, was detained on suspicion of espionage.
Main image credit: ABW (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
