WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland has detained a foreign citizen on charges of spying for Russia, prosecutors said on Monday, as the largest country on NATO’s eastern flank finds itself increasingly targeted by Moscow’s intelligence services.
The war in Ukraine has plunged what were already strained relations between Poland and Russia to new lows, with Warsaw saying it is frequently the subject of Russian espionage and disinformation.
Prosecutors in the northern Polish city of Gdansk said in a statement that the suspect had been detained on March 21.
“The findings made in the case show that the suspect acted for the benefit of Russian intelligence by obtaining and collecting information… on critical infrastructure in the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regions and on the activities of services and bodies responsible for security,” they said.
“The information obtained was passed on to the Russian intelligence service,” the statement added.
The arrest comes after Poland dismantled a Russian espionage network that had been preparing acts of sabotage and monitoring rail routes to Ukraine.
If found guilty the suspect could face up to 10 years in prison.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Gareth Jones)
