Poland: Secret service arrests suspected Russian agents

Poland's domestic secret service ABW has arrested several suspected agents who are said to have organized components for the production of weapons and ammunition on behalf of Russia.

The suspects are a 37-year-old Russian citizen and five Poles aged between 25 and 52, said the Minister for the Coordination of the Secret Services, Tomasz Siemoniak, on X.

As Siemoniak announced, investigations against the group ran from October 21st to November 2nd. Accordingly, 21 locations in three regions were searched during this time.

According to the investigation, the group is said to have purchased various parts used in the manufacture of weapons and ammunition. The parts should therefore be exported to Russia. According to the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, the value of the materials is said to exceed two million złoty (the equivalent of around 455,000 euros).

The goods are said to have been purchased in an online shop and later hidden in vehicles and smuggled across the border into the Kaliningrad exclave. Border officials are said to have confiscated some of the shipments, the newspaper reported.

The EU and NATO country Poland is one of the most important political and military supporters of Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia. It has also taken in almost a million refugees from neighboring countries.

The government in Warsaw accuses the secret services of Russia and its ally Belarus of sending many agents into the country.

As an outspoken ally of Kyiv, Germany is also apparently increasingly being targeted by Russian secret services. Just in October, investigators arrested two suspects who were planning sabotage attacks.