Poland charges three Belarusians and two Ukrainians with espionage

Nov 29, 2025 | Defence, Law

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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 charged three Belarusians and two Ukrainians – one of whom is a minor – with carrying out espionage on behalf of foreign intelligence. Their actions were consistent with the “modus operandi of Russian intelligence”, says the Internal Security Agency (ABW).

On Friday, the ABW and National Prosecutor’s Office announced that the quintet had been detained and charged with espionage. They face prison sentences of between five and 30 years if convicted.

Two of them – named as Oleksander S. and Sofia Ch. under Polish privacy law – are Ukrainians and three – Viktoryia M., Anton M. and Uladzimir U. – are Belarusians. Sofia Ch. is a minor.

Prosecutors say that, between March 2024 and February 2025, the suspects were recruited by foreign intelligence via the Telegram messaging service and carried out various tasks assigned to them, including photographing critical infrastructure and other locations crucial to national security. They were paid in cryptocurrency.

At a press conference, the spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office, Przemysław Nowak, said that, during questioning, the suspects “confessed to most of the acts covered by the charges”, reports news website Onet.

 

The latest case closely fits the pattern of how Russia has in recent years hired Ukrainian and Belarusian immigrants and refugees in Poland to carry out espionage and sabotage.

“The behaviours [undertaken by the suspects] are consistent with the established and well-known modus operandi of Russian intelligence,” writes the ABW, which notes that they were also tasked with putting up posters and creating graffiti.

After being arrested this week, Viktorya M., Oleksandr S. and Anton M. were placed in pretrial detention; Sofia Ch. was put in a juvenile facility; and Uladzimir U., who is currently hospitalised, was allowed to remain at liberty due to his poor health but with a ban on leaving the country.

In recent years, Poland has detained a growing number of individuals and groups found to have been carrying out sabotage and espionage on behalf of Russia. Among the most serious incidents have been arson attacks, including one that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre.

Earlier this month, two Ukrainians working on behalf of Russia sabotaged a rail line in Poland, including with an explosive device. They fled to Belarus immediately after the incident, but another Ukrainian has been detained and charged with assisting the saboteurs.

In response to Moscow’s so-called “hybrid actions”, Poland has successively closed down Russia’s consulates – first in Poznań last year, then in Kraków earlier this year, and finally in Gdańsk after the recent rail sabotage. Russia has responded by closing Polish consulates.

Speaking on Friday after the latest five detentions and charges were announced, foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said that the news “confirms the correctness of the decision to close the Russian consulates”.

However, Stanisław Żaryn, who was the spokesman for the security services under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, questioned why it had taken so long to take action against the suspects.

“It’s good that these individuals have been identified and detained. But why so late?” asked Żaryn. “The charges concern actions carried out in 2024! The efficiency of counterintelligence must be immediately increased!”


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: Służby specjalne (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

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