Polish authorities detain two Ukrainian suspects in espionage case
Two Ukrainians are in custody in Poland, accused of conducting espionage on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency.
ABWArtur Szczepanski/REPORTER
According to Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the coordinator of special services, the 32-year-old man and 34-year-old woman were surveying Poland’s military capabilities and installing devices for covert monitoring of critical infrastructure.
The arrests in Katowice, a city in southern Poland, were carried out jointly by the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Internal Security Agency (ABW).
The investigation is being overseen by the Military Division of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin, in eastern Poland, under suspicion of committing a crime under Article 130 § 3 of the Polish Penal Code. By court decision, the suspects will remain in custody for the next three months.
New type of social media-recruited agents detained in Poland
Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told Polish Radio on Monday that the two Ukrainians were arrested recently, along with six other saboteurs, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced last week that eight people had been detained in various parts of Poland.
Siemoniak described them as “agents of a new type – one-time operatives”, recruited through social media platforms and usually paid in cryptocurrencies.
The information gathered by the two Ukrainians reportedly concerned Polish Armed Forces personnel and critical infrastructure on Polish territory, including transport networks used to support Ukraine both militarily and logistically.
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Source: IAR/PR2/Radio Poland/X/@JacekDobrzynski/ABW
