WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities said Tuesday they charged a 47-year-old Ukrainian citizen with working for Russian intelligence after he was discovered last month conducting reconnaissance of military facilities in Poland.
The National Prosecutor’s Office did not name the man but said that he was born in Russia, and that he was arrested and charged on March 20.
The suspect’s activities involved “reconnaissance of military facilities in Poland” on behalf of Russian intelligence, a crime punishable under Polish law by prison terms 5 to 30 years, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The office added that the suspect explained that he had “ideological motives for his activities resulting from his ties with Russia.”
Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for Poland’s Interior Ministry and security services, said on X that the 47-year-old Ukrainian citizen was arrested by security agents in the Mazovian province near the capital, Warsaw, in central Poland.
He told The Associated Press that the arrest was not announced immediately because certain steps had to be completed first, “for the good of the investigation.”
Polish officials say the country is the target of espionage and hybrid war attacks initiated by Moscow that have grown more serious since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The Internal Security Agency has detained 44 people on suspicion of espionage or sabotage for Russia or Belarus in Poland since the start of war. Among them are Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles, Dobrzyński said.
