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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.
Poland has detained a Ukrainian citizen who is wanted by Romania on suspicion of involvement in an arson attack on a defence company carried out on behalf of Russia.
On Tuesday, Poland’s Central Investigation Bureau (CBŚP) announced that anti-terrorism officers had detained the man, who can be named only as Artem S. under Polish privacy law, in Warsaw under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Romania.
In the early hours of 14 September, a fire broke out in the city of Brașov, Romania, in the immediate vicinity of premises belonging to Carfil, a manufacturer of military equipment. Carfil is a subsidiary of ROMARM, a state-owned defence company.
On Monday this week, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) said it had determined that the fire had been deliberately caused by a “sabotage network coordinated from Russia”. It added that “several citizens of former Soviet states who reside in the EU” had been involved in the arson attack.
The SRI also revealed that the group’s activities were not limited to Romania. “Its coordinators in Russia had assigned it a wide range of targets across the region, including state-owned and private arms manufacturing facilities, as well as sites of military and industrial interest.”
In a separate statement, Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) confirmed that the suspects were a Ukrainian, who was at large in Poland, and two Belarusians, who had already been detained in Germany, where they “had been preparing to commit similar acts”.
Polish broadcaster RMF reports, based on sources, that Artem S.’s role in the Brașov attack was to identify a target and to arrange payment for those involved. A Polish court will now decide whether the 25-year-old should be extradited to Romania.
Poland itself has been a primary target for Russia’s campaign of sabotage and other so-called “hybrid actions” in Europe. Many of those detained and convicted have been Ukrainian and Belarusians, though some Polish citizens have also been implicated.
Poland is the "primary focus" of Russia's sabotage campaign in Europe, finds a new report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.
Among 151 incidents identified since 2022, 31 of them took place in Poland – more than in any other country https://t.co/QXfSI00FD6
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 3, 2026
In some cases, such operatives are amateurs – so-called “disposable agents” – recruited, coordinated and paid through messaging service Telegram. Some have also been pre-existing criminal groups hired by Russia to carry out such tasks.
In August, a drone production plant belonging to private Polish arms company WB Electronics was targeted in an arson attack that Poland has blamed on Russia.
The following month, a ground station in Poland used by Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, was likewise hit by an arson attack that Poland blamed on Russia. Two Turkish men were later detained in Germany on suspicion of carrying out the attack.
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: CBŚP
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.
