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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.
Police in Poland have detained a Chinese man after being alerted that he was taking photographs of railway infrastructure.
Security around Poland’s rail network has been particularly tight since last November, when operatives working on behalf of Russia used explosives to sabotage a track.
On Monday this week, police in the Lubusz province in western Poland received a report about a man taking photographs of railway infrastructure in Kowalów, a village with a population of around 900 people close to the border with Germany.
Officers from the Railway Security Guard (SOK) then apprehended the man, who turned out to be a 48-year-old Chinese national. He was handed over to the police, who have seized his devices and are investigating why he was taking the photographs.
Bezpieczeństwo na torach – realne działania służb❗
👥 W odpowiedzi na sygnały od społeczeństwa, @PolskaPolicja i Straż Ochrony Kolei ujęli obywatela Chin, który fotografował infrastrukturę kolejową 📷. To ważna informacja dla bezpieczeństwa kraju, zwłaszcza w obecnej sytuacji… pic.twitter.com/1rzXPsz5tD
— MSWiA 🇵🇱 (@MSWiA_GOV_PL) April 7, 2026
A spokesman for Lubusz police told broadcaster RMF on Tuesday that they were waiting for an official interpreter before interrogating the suspect, and were for now analysing the content of his phone.
Under Poland’s Homeland Defence Act, photography is prohibited at around 25,000 locations deemed to be of particular importance to national security. However, it is not known if the suspect is accused of violating that ban.
The Polish interior ministry, in a social media post announcing the detention of the Chinese man, said that it was “important information for the country’s security, especially in the current international situation”.
Last November, two operatives working on behalf of Russia sabotaged a rail line in eastern Poland using explosives. The pair then fled across the border to Belarus, and are believed to now be in Russia.
In response, Poland launched enhanced monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure, including deploying up to 10,000 military personnel and over 100,000 police officers. The authorities have also encouraged the public to report any suspicious activity
In February this year, Poland also banned Chinese-made vehicles from entering all secure military facilities, citing security threats relating to the gathering of sensitive data. It has also barred military personnel from connecting their work phones to the systems of such cars.
Poland has banned Chinese-made vehicles from entering all secure military facilities, citing security threats relating to the gathering of sensitive data.
It has also barred military personnel from connecting their work phones to the systems of such cars https://t.co/rtfTkKw6nM
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 19, 2026
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: SOK (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
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.
