ASF-infected boar carcass was deliberately dumped and may be “eastern sabotage”, says Poland

Dec 4, 2025 | Business, Defence, Notes from Pawland

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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.

A wild boar carcass infected with African swine fever (ASF) virus that was recently discovered in a major pig farming region in Poland was deliberately placed there, the authorities have confirmed.

The agriculture minister says the security services are investigating whether it could be a new element of Russia’s sabotage campaign against Poland.

Poland, which is one of Europe’s biggest pork producers, has long struggled with ASF, a disease that affects domestic pigs but which can also infect and be spread by wild boars.

On Wednesday, news emerged that the carcass of a wild boar infected with ASF had been discovered in Rozprza county in central Poland, causing concern among the large number of pig farmers in the area.

Immediately, there were suspicions about how the animal remains had found their way there. The carcass was partially skinned and parts were missing, including internal organs.

It was also unclear who had reported its presence to the authorities, especially as it was located in a “place where no one goes”, local farmer Janusz Terka told industry news service Farmer.pl.

“This boar didn’t die there from disease, nor did it die because it was shot. Someone brought [it] there and left it,” he added.

Later on Wednesday, the agriculture ministry confirmed that “everything indicates that the remains of the dead animal infected with the African swine fever virus were deliberately moved to a pig farming hub, where ASF had not occurred until now”.

As well as local police, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) was called in to investigate the incident. “We do not rule out eastern sabotage,” said agriculture minister Stefan Krajewski on Wednesday, referring to a campaign of Russian sabotage actions against Poland in recent years.

 

On Thursday morning, Krajewski and Paweł Meyer, Poland’s chief veterinary officer, held a press conference to update on the situation. The agriculture minister again confirmed that possible “sabotage activities, perhaps originating in the east, are an aspect that is being investigated”.

“We are dealing with a hybrid war in Poland that has been going on for years,” said the minister. “Food security is also one of the elements that could be targeted.”

Mejer confirmed that the boar carcass had been reported anonymously to the police and that it had been skinned and was missing internal organs. “A rope was also found attached to the animal’s leg, which was used to transport it there,” he added.

Krajewski also announced that the European Commission and other relevant EU authorities have been notified about the incident and that efforts are being taken to ensure that there has been no further spread of ASF in relation to it.

In recent years, Poland has been hit by a wave of espionage and sabotage activities carried out largely by Ukrainian and Belarusian immigrants recruited by the Russian security services.

Incidents have included a series of arson attacks, including one that destroyed Warsaw’s biggest shipping centre, and, most recently, sabotage of a rail line running between Warsaw and Lublin.


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: MRiRW (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

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