Poland has arrested six people suspected of working for Russian intelligence services and supplying Moscow with military-grade materials used to manufacture ammunition and weapons systems, as Warsaw intensifies its crackdown on alleged espionage and sabotage networks.
Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister-coordinator of special services, announced on November 5 that the country’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) had detained five Polish nationals and a Russian woman in a major counter-intelligence operation.
“The group illegally supplied Russia with significant amounts of military-grade materials used to produce ammunition and weapons systems,” Siemoniak said.
The suspects include five Polish citizens aged between 25 and 52 and a 37-year-old Russian woman. Four have been placed in pretrial detention on espionage charges, while the remaining two face non-custodial preventive measures, the minister said.
The arrests follow searches at 21 locations across the Warmia-Masuria, Pomerania and Greater Poland provinces between October 21 and November 2.
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The operation forms part of a broader investigation into suspected Russian espionage and sabotage. Siemoniak said nearly 100 people had been designated suspects in related cases since January 1, 2024, highlighting the scale of the security challenge facing Warsaw.
The crackdown comes amid heightened concerns over possible Russian provocations near Poland’s border with the Kaliningrad exclave. Earlier this week, Warsaw deployed police counterterrorism units to the area after intelligence warnings of potential sabotage and possible incursions by armed groups.
National Police Chief Marek Boroń said the increased security presence was intended to protect residents and critical infrastructure against suspected foreign intelligence activity.
Across Europe, governments are strengthening security arrangements amid warnings that Moscow could expand its use of hybrid warfare, including sabotage, cyberattacks, drones and other forms of covert disruption.
For Poland, a frontline Nato member and major logistical hub for assistance to Ukraine, the latest arrests underline growing fears that Russia’s confrontation with the West extends well beyond the battlefield.
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