Due to the Ukraine war: Russia increased espionage activity

It was the private radio station RMF.FM that first reported on the dismantling of a Russian spy network in Poland last week. Official confirmation followed shortly therefollowing. “The suspects carried out espionage activities once morest Poland and also prepared acts of sabotage on behalf of the Russian secret service,” said Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński regarding the suspected spies.

According to current knowledge, there are nine suspects who come from Belarus and Ukraine. “Russia likes to use ‘proxies’ for such actions, i.e. not Russian citizens,” explains military and security expert Nico Lange to ZDFheute.

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They are citizens of two neighboring countries, who are now part of everyday life in Poland and therefore have an advantage over Russians. “Russian citizens would have noticed immediately why people with another citizenship were being recruited,” a Polish expert told the Rzeczpospolita daily.

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The suspected spies were active in the southeastern Subcarpathian Voivodeship, which borders Ukraine. There, the suspects are said to have spied on and documented Western arms deliveries to Ukraine with the help of cameras installed on railway lines. In addition, the Polish domestic secret service ABW found GPS transmitters on the suspects, which should be installed on the trains.

“Because of its border with Ukraine, Poland plays a central role in Western military aid to Ukraine. A particular focus is on the airport in Rzeszów, which has developed into a central hub for military support from the West,” explains military expert Lange .

The decisive factor is not only the proximity to the Ukrainian border – the city of Rzeszów is just 80 kilometers away from this – but also the connection of the airport to the motorway and railway network, which leads to the Ukraine.

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However, it is unknown what information the spy network uncovered in Poland was able to collect at all. “It is possible that the Polish domestic secret service supplied the alleged Russian agents with false information during its investigations,” said Lange. It is also questionable whether the information they gathered would have any impact on Russian warfare at all.

In any case, military expert Nico Lange has his doubts. “The Russian Air Force has no sovereignty over Ukrainian airspace. It is also unable to attack targets in western Ukraine. Anti-aircraft weapons supplied by the West have also ensured this. And drones and cruise missiles cannot be used to attack trains carrying military goods ” said the expert.

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However, the allegation by the Polish authorities that this spy group in Poland is also said to have prepared acts of sabotage is explosive. “The Russian military intelligence service GRU is already suspected of such attacks in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria,” says Lange, referring to several attacks on ammunition depots that took place in the two countries between 2011 and 2020.

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