Poland stopped a Russian plot to attack aid trains to Ukraine

Polish authorities have thwarted a Russian attempt to attack aid trains destined for Ukraine in an operation that has seen people arrested from March to July as the scale of the operation was slowly revealed by the Polish Internal Security Agency and the Lublin National Prosecutror's Office.

A reported 15 people have been arrested since March 2023 according to The New Voice of Ukraine, which translated information from Poland's Gazeetka Polska on July 18th. The conspirators face up to 10 years in prison re hail from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.

"They received tasks for remote execution directly from Moscow, and then, after completing them, collected remuneration in cryptocurrencies (mostly bitcoin), which they then exchanged for cash," a statement translated by the New Voice of Ukraine said.

This was the largest Russian intelligence network ever discovered in Polish history and earlier details revealed how nine of the fifteen conspirators were captured back in March 15th.

Six people were detained under the suspicion that they were working on behalf of Russian intelligence according to radio journalist Krzysztof Zasada.

Photo by Twitter @igorsushko

“Polish services have broken up a spy network working for Russia,” Zasada wrote on Radio RMF 24’s website, information he said came from Polish intelligence officers. 

Photo by Twitter @jmscaronte

“The group was supposed to conduct preparations for sabotage activities in our country,” Zasada continued, noting that six people were detained in connection with the spy ring. 

Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski later confirmed reports that his country had indeed broken up a Russian spy network and upped the number of detained to nine. 

"In recent days, the Internal Security Agency has detained nine people suspected of collaborating with the Russian secret services," Kaminski said in a press conference.

“The suspects conducted intelligence activities against Poland and prepared acts of sabotage at the request of Russian intelligence,” Kaminski added. 

Six of the individuals involved had already been involved with espionage and investigations into the remaining three were still ongoing according to Poland’s Interior Minister. 

"Officers secured cameras, electronic equipment, as well as GPS transmitters that were to be mounted on transports with help for Ukraine," Kaminski told reporters. 

Reuters reported that the Russian spy network had also been tasked with carrying out propaganda missions aimed at destabilizing relations between Ukraine and Poland.

The recent discovery of Russian spies operating in Poland was just one in a string of espionage operations that have been uncovered by Polish intelligence. 

In December 2022, Poland’s Prosecutor’s Office indicted two foreign nationals accused of spying for The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly abbreviated as GRU. 

The two-man spy ring was caught in April 2022 according to Warsaw’s Prosecutor’s Office and was accused of doing reconnaissance work for Russian military intelligence that targeted key critical defense points in Poland as well as combat capabilities.

Both individuals were reportedly residing in Poland legally according to Polish news agency Polska Agencja Prasowa, which noted that one of the detained was a Belarusian studying in Bialystok.

The other indicted spy was a Russian citizen who Polska Agencja Prasowa said performed their duties under the “guise of cultural activities and tourism.”

No information was provided in the July 19th statement from the National Prosecutors Office regarding the other six conspirators in the plot. The only additional information gleaned was that all fifteen of the would-be saboteurs were in the employ of Russian military intelligence.

Poland has been at the forefront of supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and much of the international supplies provided to the Ukrainian government flow through Polish territory before arriving at its border with Ukraine to be shipped onwards to the frontline troops.