Three Ukrainians convicted in Poland over role in Russian-linked arson campaign

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Three Ukrainians have been jailed in Poland for their role in a group tasked with carrying out sabotage and terrorism in Poland and other European Union states. That included the arson attack that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre, which Polish prosecutors say was carried out on Russia’s orders.

On Friday, Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office announced that the three men – who can be named only as Serhii R., Pavlo T. and Vladyslav Y. under Polish privacy law – had been convicted of participating in an organised criminal group of a sabotage-terrorist nature.

All three were given jail terms, ranging from 16 months to five and a half years, by the Warsaw-Praga district court. Their sentences, which can still be appealed, were handed down last month but are only now being reported.

The trio were found to have, in 2023 and 2024, participated in an organised criminal group operating in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia with the goal of committing acts of sabotage and terrorism by setting fire to large buildings in EU countries.

“These crimes were committed with the aim of seriously intimidating numerous people and influencing public opinion,” says the National Prosecutor’s Office.

In addition, Serhii R. and Pavlo T., who received the longest prison sentences, were found to have obstructed investigations into arson attacks on an IKEA store in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the Marywilska 44 shopping centre in Warsaw, Poland, both of which took place in May 2024.

They did so by helping a suspect, named as Serhii Chalyi and identified as the leader of the group, to flee Poland, arranging transport, airline tickets and accommodation for him. Chalyi, who is believed to be from Kherson in Ukraine, is currently wanted on a European Arrest Warrant and Interpol Red Notice issued by Poland.

The National Prosecutors’ Office notes that the convictions of Serhii R., Pavlo T. and Vladyslav Y. are part of a much broader investigation into the group they were part of and which was tasked with committing acts of sabotage and terrorism.

As part of that same investigation, two other Ukrainians, Oleksander V. and Daniil B., were charged in May this year over their alleged involvement in the Marywilska arson attack.

In its statement today, the National Prosecutor’s Office also noted that Daniil B. along with another man, Oleksandr H., were responsible for the arson attack on the Vilnius IKEA store, acting on orders from Oleksander V., who was in Russia at the time and remains there now, and Chalyi, who was in Poland and is now missing.

Daniil B. was also ordered to film the fires in Vilnius and Warsaw so that they could be posted “on Russian propaganda websites and media”.

The National Prosecutor’s Office confirmed in today’s statement that it has “determined that the fire at Marywilska 44 was committed…on behalf of Russia’s intelligence services”. But it added that investigators have still not determined who actually set the fire.

In May this year, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed that it was “known for sure that the large fire at Marywilska was the result of arson ordered by the Russian security services”. Poland closed Russia’s consulate in Kraków in response. Its consulate in Poznań was closed last year for similar reasons.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected such suggestions, calling them “absolutely baseless” and saying they were motivated by “Russophobia”.

Poland has in recent years been hit by a wave of sabotage, espionage, propaganda and disinformation that it has blamed on Russia’s “hybrid war” against EU countries.

Such actions are generally carried out by criminal gangs or individuals – often Ukrainian or Belarusian immigrants – recruited and paid online by Russian handlers.

This week, Tusk announced that Poland’s security services have detained eight further people suspected of planning acts of sabotage on behalf of Russia, including at least one Ukrainian.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Prokuratura Krajowa (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.