Poland is stepping up security measures around Rzeszów-Jasionka airport – the main transit hub for foreign aid to Ukraine – due to recent cases of sabotage that are believed to have been carried out on behalf of Russia.
“We are facing a foreign state that is conducting hostile and — in military parlance — kinetic action on Polish territory,” interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak told Bloomberg. “There has never been anything like this before.”
In the interview, Siemoniak confirmed that security at the airport had been increased, though without specifying what particular measures had been taken.
Exclusive: Polish authorities are stepping up security around the main transit hub for aid to Ukraine as a series of arrests expose concerns over Russian-backed sabotage operations https://t.co/Y41K8f4PJ8 via @bpolitics @Natalia_Ojewska
— Patrick Donahue (@patrickjdo) May 23, 2024
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed that Russia was “likely” to have been behind a fire that recently destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre.
On Monday, he announced that nine people had been charged with carrying out sabotage on behalf of Russia, though at least one of those cases relates to a person detained in January. The following day, he announced that a further three people had been detained overnight.
In December, fourteen foreign nationals – most of them Ukrainian citizens – were found guilty of espionage and planned sabotage on behalf of Russia. Among the targets they observed were the airport and train station in Rzeszów.
It is “likely” that Russia was involved in the fire that recently destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre, says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
However, he added that investigations are still ongoing https://t.co/SipJtSLIpQ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 21, 2024
Siemoniak told Bloomberg that recent acts of sabotage had been ordered by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, which he noted was also carrying out similar actions in other parts of Europe.
The interior minister said that, to carry out such acts, “one-time agents”, such as football hooligans or organised crime groups, were recruited in return for payment.
“[This is] a very serious situation,” said Siemoniak. “We’re no longer talking about agents of influence or some online activities. These are individuals who are ready to come and set things on fire.”
Nine people have been charged in Poland on suspicion of sabotage on behalf of the Kremlin, says @donaldtusk, who warns that the region is facing a "very serious" threat from Russia https://t.co/zJlt9cwdJP
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 21, 2024
In April, two men – both Polish citizens – were detained in Poland on suspicion of carrying out an attack on Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov in Lithuania.
A day earlier, another Polish national was detained on suspicion of helping Russian intelligence with a planned assassination attempt against Volodymyr Zelensky. Among the tasks reportedly assigned to the man was gathering information on security at Rzeszów airport.
As Poland’s closest major airport to Ukraine, Rzeszów-Jasionka has become the main transport point for Western weapons and other aid being sent to Ukraine, as well as the main stopover point for officials travelling to and from Ukraine.
Poland has arrested one of its own citizens on suspicion of cooperating with Russian intelligence, including on plans for an assassination attempt against @ZelenskyyUa while the Ukrainian president was travelling through Poland https://t.co/UIjlElXf2K
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 18, 2024
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Main image credit: Patryk Ogorzalek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
