-
FromVictoria Krumbeck
close
Russia’s military intelligence service is said to have recruited spies in Poland. One goal is said to be the disruption of arms deliveries via Poland to Ukraine.
Warsaw – The situation in Poland is quite tense with regard to the Belarusian neighbor and its ally Russia. Wagner mercenaries have been in Belarus since Yevgeny Prigozhin attempted a coup. More than a hundred Wagner fighters are said to be getting closer and closer to the Polish border. As a measure, Poland has increasingly secured its border with Belarus. But according to a report by Washington Post Russia is said to have recruited employees in Poland for the Russian military intelligence service GRU. Arms shipments to Ukraine were to be sabotaged.
Russia’s military intelligence recruits agents in Poland – disrupting arms shipments
As the Washington Post wrote on August 17, job offers are said to have first appeared on the Internet. There, tasks such as putting up leaflets and signs were described by an anonymous employer. But actually it was about spreading pro-Russian propaganda. It became dangerous for those who decided to take the job. According to Polish investigators, after a few weeks the recruits were tasked with attaching cameras to railway lines, scouting Polish seaports and hiding tracking devices in military cargo.
Also the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on the Russian recruitment attempt. Another order in March 2023 was to derail trains that were traveling to Ukraine with weapons. Investigators suspect that the GRU is behind it and that this operation on NATO territory, the greatest Russian threat since the beginning of the Ukraine War represents. Russia’s goal was to interrupt the arms pipeline that runs through Poland. According to the Washington Post around 80 percent of weapons are delivered to Ukraine via Poland. About 20 percent come to Ukraine via other countries.
Russian espionage in Poland: “Widespread threat remains”
Polish officials are alarmed by Russia’s work. “This is the first sign that the Russians are trying to organize sabotage – even terrorist attacks – in Poland,” spokesman for Intelligence Coordinator Stanisław Żaryn told the newspaper. An investigator from the Polish domestic secret service ABW, who was directly involved in the case, told the Washington Postthat the recruited people had been commissioned, among other things, to carry out arson attacks and an assassination attempt. “That threat has been eliminated, but the broader threat remains,” he said. This was also recently shown by the rhetoric of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he used towards Poland.
Among the arrested people who worked for the GRU are twelve refugees from Ukraine. However, officials did not officially admit this. Probably to avoid counter-reporting intended by Russia, like that Washington Post reported. One Russian and three Belarusian citizens are said to be among those arrested. Polish officials believe that the motive for the people originally from Ukraine was money rather than ideology. (vk)
Rubric list image: © Spc. Adrian Greenwood/dpa
#Russias #secret #service #recruiting #civilians #NATO #territory #assassination #attacks #sabotage