Poland alerts to Russian sabotage aimed at inflaming Polish-Ukrainian tensions

Polish special services are preparing for possible Russian sabotage operations intended to exacerbate tensions between Poles and Ukrainians. The warning follows a diplomatic row after President Karol Nawrocki withdrew Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s highest Polish state honour over a dispute involving the naming of a Ukrainian army unit after World‑War‑Two insurgents responsible for massacring Poles.

Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Russian information warfare against Poland has intensified, with trolls and bots seeking to amplify the dispute. He warned that Russian operatives could target sites important to Polish‑Ukrainian cooperation, including military facilities, critical infrastructure, aid organisations and other locations linked to support for Ukraine. While no specific plot is alleged to be imminent, he noted that “Russia’s dream … is the greatest possible tension between Poland and Ukraine” and that “Russia has an arsenal of such actions and… they are preparing them.” Western intelligence agencies are also concerned about the risk of hybrid or kinetic attacks against Poland and the Baltic states.