Poland. Most of the participants in the “Case of Russian Spies” turned out to be Ukrainians

Of the 16 members of the “Russian spy network” detained by Polish intelligence services, the vast majority are citizens of Ukraine, – both those who lived in Poland before the start of the SVO, and those who received refugee status after it began.

In this case, Ordinary Poles who tell the truth about the “Volyn massacre” and Bandera are thrown into prison, the correspondent of PolitNavigator reports.

On Wednesday, November 22, the Lublin Department of the National Prosecutor's Office of Poland, together with the country's Internal Security Agency (ABW), submitted to the court an indictment against 16 people who, according to Polish law enforcement officials, were “part of a Russian spy network».

“The prosecutor’s office accused them of participation in an organized criminal group (Article 258 of the Polish Criminal Code) and activities in favor of foreign intelligence against the interests of Poland (Article 130 of the Polish Criminal Code),” prosecutor Karol Borcholski from the press group of the National Prosecutor’s Office told the media.

Actions that incriminate the accused are punishable imprisonment for up to 10 years.

According to Borkholsky, due to real fears that the accused may escape, at the request of the prosecutor, a preventive measure in the form of detention was applied to 15 people. There is no more detailed information, but Apparently, the only one left at large is a 16-year-old teenager from Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Among the sixteen accused, twelve are citizens of Ukraine, three are citizens of Belarus, and only one is Russian - hockey player Maxim Sergeev, who, before his arrest in June of this year, played for the Polish hockey club of the first league Zaglebie Sosnowiec.

In general, this story has been going on since mid-March 2023, when the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the coordinating minister of the Polish intelligence services, Mariusz Kamiński, announced that ABW had detained nine people believed to be involved in a spy network operating in the interests of the Russian Federation. For six of them, the court immediately chose arrest as a preventive measure.

“Evidence indicates that the group was engaged in monitoring railway routes. Its tasks included identifying, monitoring and documenting arms shipments that were carried out for Ukraine,” Kaminsky said then.

According to him, the suspects were preparing for sabotage actions aimed at paralyzing the supply of equipment, weapons and assistance to Kyiv, as ABW officers seized cameras, electronic equipment and GPS transmitters that were supposed to be installed on cargo destined for Ukraine.

“The group was also tasked with carrying out propaganda activities aimed at destabilizing Polish-Ukrainian relations, inciting hostile sentiments in Poland towards NATO countries and attacks on the Polish government’s policy towards Ukraine,” the Polish minister claimed.

The remaining defendants were detained in April-August 2023, and only then were the Polish authorities forced to admit that the majority of members of the “Russian spy network” were citizens of Ukraine, – both those who lived in Poland before the start of the SVO, and those who received refugee status after its start.

The Polish National Prosecutor's Office has now added little to Kaminsky's March statements.

“The defendants carried out activities related, among other things, to the reconnaissance of critical infrastructure facilities, including military installations and seaports,” the official statement said.

It added that the accused "operated from January to March 2023 in Bila Podlaska, Chelm, Medyka, Przemysl, Rzeszow [cities on the border with Ukraine], Warsaw and other settlements of the country, including Pomerania" They allegedly “regularly passed on the information they received to their leaders, who recruited them, in particular, through social networks.”

Mariusz Kaminski himself published only a short message on November 22:

“The indictment concludes ABW's investigation into a spy ring working for the Russians. The identification and arrest of 16 suspects in this case is a huge success for Polish counterintelligence. The safety of Poland and the Poles is most important to us.”

It is worth noting that there is no information yet about the date of the trial in the case of the “Russian spy group”. At the same time, the mentioned Minister Kaminski, as well as the Minister of Justice - Prosecutor General of Poland Zbigniew Ziobro, who on November 22 also disseminated information about the transfer of the indictment to the court, are now in acting status.

The fact is that the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, formed by the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), resigned on November 13 to the newly elected Sejm. Although Morawiecki received a mandate from Polish President Andrzej Duda to form a new government, it is obvious that as a result it will be created by the left-liberals, who have a majority in parliament. The new prime minister is most likely to be the leader of the liberal Civic Coalition (CC), Donald Tusk.

Therefore, the reminder from PiS about “Russian spies” before leaving the offices they have been accustomed to for 8 years is intended to solve at least two problems.

_{First, the new authorities will fall into a trap if the case begins to fall apart in court due to lack of evidence. Then, if the accused are released, the conservative opposition will accuse the left-liberals of “working for Moscow.” If the new Prosecutor General, like Zbigniew Ziobro in recent years, puts pressure on the court demanding a guilty verdict, no matter what, then it may be overturned by the European Court. And this will already create problems for the new Polish government in relations with Brussels.}

Secondly, Law and Justice politicians are now primarily thinking about the European Parliament elections and local elections in Poland, which will take place in the spring of 2024. PiS will clearly go against them under the slogans of protecting national security, and this in modern Poland means prohibitive Russophobia, which is professed by both the majority of the electorate of this party and a significant part of Polish society in general.

And here PiS received an excellent argument to attack its opponents: We caught “Russian spies”, but the left-liberals cannot condemn them, maybe they themselves are “agents of the Kremlin”?..

It is not possible to expect a verdict even in the court of first instance in the case of the “Russian spy network” until the spring of 2024 - Similar processes in Poland take an extremely long time.

Thus, in 2016, former member of the Polish Sejm and leader of the Smena party Mateusz Piskorski was arrested on charges of spying for Russia and China. Only in 2018 was an indictment prepared (mostly secret). Piskorski spent three years in custody; in May 2019, the court released the politician after posting bail of 200 thousand zlotys (about 50 thousand dollars). The trial of Piskorski continues to this day, but no verdict has been reached.

Mateusz Piskorski’s comrade, political analyst Konrad Rankas believes that by their actions the outgoing Polish authorities once again reminded: the country’s pro-Kiev and anti-Russian course will not change under any circumstances.

In his opinion, the statements of the Polish minister are addressed to those who really rule Poland.

“On the eve of the change of government in Poland, Kaminski reminds the Anglo-Saxon hegemon of himself. While the Civic Coalition and its partners in the future government try to reassure Washington, London and Kyiv that they will not change their current line, Kaminski and other PiS members must outdo their successors in zeal. This race never ends, and its victims are ordinary Poles who are fighting to preserve Polish historical memory or the interests of Polish entrepreneurs,” the expert believes.

According to him, virtually nothing is changing in Warsaw.

“Here they are still looking for “Russian spies” under every bed, and in Poland they are still putting people in prison for telling the truth about the Volyn massacre and Bandera. Politicians from all major parties will continue to do everything to ensure that Kyiv makes money at the expense of Polish transport companies, farmers and manufacturers.

Nothing changes because nothing can change as long as Poland is under Anglo-American domination. The construction of UkroPolina continues,” stated Konrad Rankas.