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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.
Interpol has published red notices for two men that Poland says were responsible for carrying out the sabotage of a rail line last month on behalf of Russia.
The suspects fled immediately to Belarus, an ally of Russia, after the attack. Their current location is unknown, and the red notices mean that, in theory, police forces worldwide should seek to find and arrest the suspects pending extradition.
On Monday evening, Poland’s national police headquarters announced that it had received confirmation from Interpol that red notices have been issued for the two suspects, Oleksandr Kononov, 39, and Yevhenii Ivanov, 41. The news was also confirmed by interior minister Marcin Kierwiński.
The pair are wanted by Polish prosecutors on suspicion of carrying out acts of a terrorist nature on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment.
17 grudnia br. Sekretariat Generalny Interpolu przekazał do Biura Międzynarodowej Współpracy Policji KGP informację, że zostały opublikowane czerwone noty dot. podejrzanych o dokonanie w powiecie garwolińskim w dniach 15-16 listopada br. aktów dywersji o charakterze… pic.twitter.com/k4UrHaeObh
— Polska Policja 🇵🇱 (@PolskaPolicja) December 17, 2025
On the weekend of 15-16 November, the Polish authorities discovered acts of sabotage on two sections of a rail line running between Warsaw and the eastern Polish city of Lublin. In one case, an explosive device was detonated in an attempt to attack a freight train travelling on the route.
Soon after, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the perpetrators had been identified as two Ukrainian citizens working on behalf of Russia. They had entered Poland from Belarus and then fled back across the border immediately after the incident.
Meanwhile, another Ukrainian man, named only as Volodymyr B. under Polish privacy law, has been charged in Poland for assisting in the sabotage.
In recent years, Poland has been hit with a series of acts of sabotage carried out by operatives – often Ukrainian or Belarusian nationals – recruited by Russia.
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Last month, Belarus’s foreign ministry said that the Belarusian authorities were searching for the suspects and, if they are located, “a request to transfer them to the Polish side will be considered in accordance with the applicable procedure and taking into account all the circumstances related to the case”, reported Polsat News.
However, given that Minsk is generally a close ally of Moscow, even if the suspects remain in Belarus, the chances of extradition to Poland appear slim.
Earlier this month, Warsaw’s district court also issued European Arrest Warrants for the two suspects. However, those are enforced only by other European Union countries.
Poland has ordered Russia to close its consulate in Gdańsk in response to last week's sabotage of a rail line by agents working for Moscow.
It means that all of Russia's consulates in Poland have now been shut, with only the embassy in Warsaw remaining https://t.co/Ba0ALlhcpA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 19, 2025
Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading Polish daily, reports that the rail sabotage in Poland was not the first such act carried out by Ivanov on behalf of Russia. Earlier this year, he was convicted in absentia in Ukraine for his involvement in a foiled attempt to set off explosives in a military drone factory in Lviv.
However, despite the fact that Ivanov had fled to Russia, Ukrainian prosecutors told Gazeta Wyborcza that they had not issued an arrest warrant for him or informed Interpol.
Ivanov was born in Estonia, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union. He later lived in Ukraine and obtained Ukrainian citizenship, reports Warsaw-based Belarusian broadcaster Belsat.
Few details have emerged about the background of Kononov, who was born in Ukraine and lived in the eastern city of Donetsk, which is currently under Russian occupation.
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: Policja
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.
