Poland charges Ukrainian with spying for Russia

Apr 1, 2025 - 09:29

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish President Andrzej Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Latvian President Egils Levits and Estonian President Alar Karis (not pictured), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 13, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

Prosecutors in Poland have charged a Ukrainian man who was born in Russia with participating in activities linked to Russian intelligence, they said on Tuesday.

The Polish Internal Security Agency had detained the man earlier in March, and a district court in Warsaw decided at the time to detain him for three months.

"The suspect's activities consisted in reconnaissance of military facilities in Poland on behalf of the aforementioned intelligence," prosecutors said in a statement, adding it was a crime punishable by imprisonment from five to 30 years.

Warsaw's support for Kyiv in its defence against Russia's invasion has made Poland a target for Russian espionage and sabotage. Prosecutors indicted two men in November in a case tied to cooperation with Belarusian intelligence services.

"The suspect admitted to committing the act he was charged with and provided an explanation in which he described the ideological motives for his activities resulting from his ties with Russia," prosecutors said.

Source: Reuters