A Russian soldier has been detained in Poland after crossing the border from Belarus. He was reportedly in possession of documents indicating that he had been serving in military operations during the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Polish broadcaster RMF first reported early on Wednesday morning that a soldier who had deserted Russia’s army was detained by border guards in Poland’s northeastern Podlasie province.
The 41-year-old was in plain clothes, unarmed and in possession of Russian military documents, including a contract with the army covering participation in military operations in Ukraine, reported RMF.
“Everything indicates that he tried to illegally enter our country through Belarus, straight from the Ukrainian front,” added the broadcaster, which said that he had entered via the same channels used since 2021 by tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers to try to enter Poland from Belarus.
Soon after, Poland’s border guard issued a statement confirming that it had detained a 41-year-old “deserter from Russia who illegally crossed the border from Belarus”. It gave no further details other than the fact that “further actions are being taken against him”.
Straż Graniczna potwierdza zatrzymanie dezertera z Rosji 🇷🇺. To 41-letni mężczyzna, który nielegalnie przekroczył granicę z Białorusi 🇧🇾 do Polski 🇵🇱. Prowadzone są wobec niego dalsze czynności. pic.twitter.com/1Bkj1L3sGm
— Straż Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) May 8, 2024
In a statement to the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, border guard spokeswoman Katarzyna Zdanowicz confirmed that the Russian man was in possession of military documents.
RMF reports that the Internal Security Agency (ABW), which is responsible for domestic counterintelligence and security, has become involved in the case.
The incident comes just two days after a Polish judge fled in the opposite direction to Belarus, where he says he will seek asylum due to facing political persecution in Poland.
In December, 14 members of a spy ring operating on behalf of Russia were handed prison sentences in Poland. In April, Poland detained one of its own citizens on suspicion of cooperating with Russia, including on plans for a possible assassination attempt against Volodymyr Zelensky.
A Polish judge has fled to Belarus, saying he is seeking asylum due to political persecution in Poland.
The judge was previously implicated in a scandal involving an online smear campaign against critics of the former PiS government's judicial reforms https://t.co/QR3gcYwMLV
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 6, 2024
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Main image credit: Policja Podlaska (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
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.
