Poland charges teenager over alleged sabotage for Russian intelligence

Polish prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian man with carrying out 47 alleged sabotage acts on behalf of Russian intelligence, in a case they say was designed to inflame tensions between Poland and Ukraine. The suspect, identified as Illia K under Polish privacy rules, was arrested in August 2025 after a series of incidents that prosecutors say took place between November 2024 and the time of his detention. Officials say the alleged actions included vandalism at memorials and preparations for a drone-related plot targeting the Polish president's vehicle.

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The Internal Security Agency said the purpose of the alleged sabotage was to provoke ethnic tensions. Prosecutors said the suspect acted for financial rather than ideological reasons, but that most of the alleged acts were carried out for the benefit of foreign intelligence. They said he received tasks from an unidentified person through a messaging service and sent back photographs as proof that the tasks had been completed.

The agency also said he allegedly recruited other people to take part and used cryptocurrencies registered in Russia and China to pay them. Among the alleged acts were desecration of the Monument to the Jewish Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto in the capital and memorials to Polish victims of the Volhynia massacre in Domostawa and Wrocław. Prosecutors said the inscriptions and symbols placed at the sites glorified the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA.

The case also includes allegations that he prepared to fly a drone over President Karol Nawrocki's vehicle during the Polish Armed Forces' Day parade in Warsaw on 15 August last year, and he was arrested three days before the event. The case comes against a backdrop of heightened concern in Poland over sabotage, espionage and attempts to exploit historical grievances between Poles and Ukrainians. The Internal Security Agency said in May that it had launched 48 espionage investigations last year, more than double the number in 2024.

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It also said Russian secret services had focused on discrediting Poland internationally and on exploiting historical ethnic antagonisms, particularly in Polish-Ukrainian relations. The allegations are politically sensitive because they involve memorial sites linked to the Second World War and the Volhynia massacre, a subject that has long strained relations between the two countries. They also raise questions about the use of online messaging, cryptocurrency and recruited intermediaries in suspected foreign-intelligence operations.

Prosecutors said the suspect faces life in prison if convicted, but they have not said when the case will go to trial. What remains unclear is the full extent of any wider network, the identity of the person who allegedly gave the orders, and whether other suspects may be charged. It is also not clear how many of the 47 alleged acts will be pursued in court as separate offences.

The case is likely to remain under close watch because it combines counterintelligence concerns with politically charged historical symbolism and allegations of foreign interference.

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