Warsaw has long accused Russia of conducting hybrid operations aimed at driving a wedge between Poland and Ukraine.
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Poland has been one of Kyiv’s strongest supporters since 2022, when Russia launched a large-scale invasion, but anti-Ukrainian sentiments are growing in the country.
Relations hit a low point at the end of June when Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s highest state award over the latter’s decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II.
The UPA fought for Ukraine’s independence against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. However, it is also accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, mostly in the Nazi-occupied Volhynia and Eastern Galicia regions.
In announcing the charges, Poland’s internal security agency stated that the case revealed “the mechanism of Russian intelligence services’ operations aimed at pursuing their interests by inciting conflicts between the Polish and Ukrainian peoples.”
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According to Polish officials, an 18-year-old Ukrainian citizen is suspected of committing 47 criminal acts from November 2024 to August 2025. Besides desecrating memorial sites, he is charged with planning a sabotage attack using a drone.
Prosecutors said the suspect intended to fly a drone over the car carrying the Polish president during a military parade in Warsaw on August 15, 2025. He was detained before the parade.
Prosecutors stated that evidence suggests the suspect was recruited online and paid in cryptocurrency.
At the end of June, the Internal Security Agency reported uncovering a Russian-funded scheme aimed at influencing the Ukrainian refugee community in Poland to incite protests and stir social tension among them.
