Poland charges territorial soldier with espionage

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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.

Prosecutors have charged a soldier from Poland’s Territorial Defence Force (WOT), a volunteer reserve force, with espionage. According to a media investigation, the suspect was active in a far-right group and was seeking to spy on behalf of Russia.

In statements released on Thursday, both WOT and the district prosecutor’s office in the city of Poznań announced that the man, whom they did not name, had been charged with espionage.

WOT confirmed he was part of the 12th Wielkopolska Territorial Defence Brigade, but had been “immediately released from the territorial military service” after prosecutors informed them of his detention.

“The detainee possessed basic clearance for classified information, which is required for every position held by territorial military service soldiers,” they added. “He did not serve in the protection of the Polish border or in any other operations related to national security.”

On the same day, Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading daily, published an investigation naming the suspect as Jarosław K. (with his surname masked under privacy law), who had served in WOT as a radio operator since March 2024.

It added that, according to its sources, the suspected espionage relates to Russian intelligence. It also noted that the suspect had been active in a pro-Russian far-right group called Rodacy Kamraci.

Just nine days before his arrest in March, Jarosław K. had participated in one of the group’s rallies in Warsaw, reported the newspaper, which also published a photograph purporting to show him delivering an anti-Ukrainian speech in 2024 while wearing a Rodacy Kamraci hat.

Gazeta Wyborcza cited a spokesman for Poznań’s district court saying that Jarosław K. most likely committed a crime under a section of Poland’s espionage law that relates to declaring readiness to act on behalf of foreign intelligence or gathering data that could be provided to them.

However, the newspaper itself claimed that, according to prosecutorial sources, Jarosław K. has been charged under a more serious section of the law that pertains to actually working for foreign intelligence.

The court in Poznań has denied a motion to place the suspect in pretrial detention and instead released him under non-custodial measures, prosecutors said, adding they have appealed against that decision.

Meanwhile, Piotr Pytel, a former head of the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), told Gazeta Wyborcza that the case raises concerns over WOT’s vetting procedures

“I am outraged that the military tolerates such people in its ranks. If it is unable to identify the threat for such a long time, it has a serious systemic and personnel problem,” he said.

In February, a 29-year-old Polish man was indicted on charges of spying for Russia, with prosecutors saying that he “acted out of ideological motives and pro-Russian beliefs”.

In recent years, Poland has detained, charged and in some cases convicted a growing number of individuals and groups found to have been carrying out espionage, sabotage and other so-called “hybrid activities” on behalf of Russia.

Among the most serious incidents have been arson attacks, including one that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre, and sabotage of a rail line.

In response, Poland has successively closed down all of Russia’s consulates in Poland, prompting Moscow to do the same with Polish consulates in a tit-for-tat move.

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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: Komenda Wojewódzka Państwowej Straży Pożarnej w Gorzowie Wielkopolskim (under CC BY-SA 4.0)

Olivier Sorgho

Olivier Sorgho is senior editor at Notes from Poland, covering politics, business and society. He previously worked for Reuters.