Authorities in Poland and Romania have detained a group of suspects accused of planning sabotage operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services. Polish media, including RMF24, reported on October 21 that the National Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into Russian espionage activities against Poland. Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the Internal Security Agency, working with other services, had arrested eight individuals suspected of preparing acts of sabotage.
According to Radio Free Europe Romania, Romania’s intelligence agency SRI prevented an attempted attack targeting the Bucharest headquarters of Ukraine’s Nova Poshta delivery company. Polish security coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak said the detainees had been conducting surveillance of military sites and critical infrastructure in preparation for attacks. Prosecutors believe the group planned to send parcels containing explosive and incendiary materials to Ukraine, designed to ignite or detonate during transport. The packages were intercepted by Romanian authorities before any explosion occurred.
Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the Polish security coordinator, said that in recent months the Internal Security Agency had detained 55 individuals working against Poland’s interests and in favor of Russian intelligence. Polish officials have warned that Moscow is intensifying its hybrid operations across the EU since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, seeking to destabilize European allies and undermine public support for Kyiv.
Poland’s National Security Bureau head, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, said Russia uses digital currencies to finance espionage and sabotage networks targeting EU infrastructure. He added that the Kremlin often employs foreign nationals to disguise its involvement. Warsaw, a NATO and EU member bordering Ukraine, has already reported several Russian-linked sabotage attempts. Western intelligence agencies previously linked a string of warehouse fires at DHL facilities in the UK, Germany, and Poland in 2024 to suspected Russian operations aiming to disrupt logistics and aviation routes to North America.
Analysts say the latest thwarted plot was designed to intimidate EU populations and challenge the bloc’s ability to guarantee security amid its support for Ukraine. Russia’s hybrid strategy blurs the line between military and civilian targets, combining physical attacks, propaganda, and economic pressure to spread fear and erode unity. European nations are now under growing pressure to tighten counterintelligence coordination to counter Moscow’s cross-border sabotage networks.
