Embassy in Poland Embassy ● Roster captured

The Insider reported on July 31st that “on July 31, Polish F-16 fighter jets intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced earlier today. The aircraft was approximately 40 kilometers north of Kołobrzeg. According to the defense minister, the Il-20 was flying in international airspace without a flight plan and with its transponder switched off. Two Polish F-16s were scrambled to intercept it. Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poland’s armed forces continue to monitor Russia’s activities in close coordination with NATO allies. The incident occurred a day after a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile violated Polish airspace during a massive strike on Ukraine. Initially, the Polish military spoke of an unidentified object that was moving westward on the morning of July 30 before disappearing from radar. Subsequently, missile debris was discovered near a crater approximately 10 meters in diameter near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin Voivodeship. Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the missile was, in all likelihood, Russian. On July 31, Polish prosecutors confirmed that the missile that fell on Polish territory the previous day was indeed a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. It was manufactured in the second quarter of 2026 at one of the facilities in the Moscow Region, said Lublin Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Marcin Kozak. Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Mikhno in connection with the incident. Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewióra said that details of the conversation would be published later.”

SwissInfo reported on May 29th that “Polish security services have arrested a man suspected of trying to obtain photos of military vehicles crossing the border into Ukraine as well as three men accused of committing arson on the orders of Russian intelligence, authorities said on Wednesday. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previously dismissed allegations of involvement in such sabotage. Poland says its role as a hub for military and other supplies to Ukraine has made it a target for Russian spies who are trying to gather information on support for Kyiv’s effort to repel Russia’s invasion, as well as engage in acts of sabotage. A 26-year-old Ukrainian man is suspected of encouraging a Polish citizen to share the photos and “take part in the activities of foreign intelligence”, a spokesperson for the minister coordinating the security services said. The Ukrainian man, named as Oleksandr D., sent messages to a Polish citizen encouraging him to help foreign intelligence, spokesperson Jacek Dobrzynski said. “This activity was to consist of sharing photos of military vehicles that were intended to help Ukraine and crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border,” Dobrzynski said. “In exchange for the information provided, the Polish citizen was to receive a remuneration of 15,000 euros.” A court agreed to a request to hold the suspect in pre-trial detention for three months. If found guilty he could face up to eight years in prison. Separately, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) said it had detained a Pole and two Belarusian citizens suspected of setting fire to facilities in various parts of Poland. “These are subsequent arrests in the investigation into the activities of an organized criminal group whose task is to commit acts of sabotage, in particular arson, at the request of Russian secret services,” it said.”

On July 10th Reuters reported that “Poland has detained another member of a Russian spy network, bringing the total number of people rounded up in an investigation to 15, the interior minister said on Monday. A hub for Western military supplies to Ukraine, Poland says it has become a major target of Russian spies and it accuses Moscow of trying to destabilise it. “The Internal Security Agency has detained another member of the spy network working for Russian intelligence,” Mariusz Kaminski said in a post on Twitter. “The suspect kept surveillance of military facilities and seaports. He was systematically paid by the Russians.” The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Prosecutors said in a statement that the individual arrested was a Ukrainian citizen who had been in Poland since 2019 and that he could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. He will be kept in pre-trial detention, prosecutors said.”

Intel News reported on May 1st that “authorities in Poland have seized an abandoned school building in the Polish capital Warsaw, allegedly because it was being used as a base for espionage activities by the Russian government. Following the seizure of the building complex, Russian officials issued stern but vague warnings, saying that action will be taken in response to what they termed as an “act of provocation” by the Polish government. The controversial seizure was revealed on Saturday afternoon by Warsaw’s Deputy Mayor Tomasz Bratek, who announced that Warsaw city authorities had “taken possession” of the building. He was referring to a communist-era building complex in central Warsaw’s Ochota district, which, according to Moscow, belongs to the Russian government. The property was originally part of the Soviet embassy complex, but was later transformed into a high school and community center specializing in Russian language and culture. Many of its students were children of Russian diplomats who are stationed at the nearby Russian embassy. It has fallen into disuse in recent years. Poland claims that the Russian government never officially bought or leased the property, and that it had been using it without permission for over three decades. Warsaw city officials maintain that the building belongs to the Warsaw city council and that they have repeatedly asked Russia to vacate the building, but to no avail. In recent years, the Polish government has been accusing Russia of using the high school as a cover for espionage activities, and claims that the use of the building by Moscow violates Polish sovereignty while also constituting a security threat. Late on Saturday, the Russian government strongly denied the allegations and accused the Polish government of engaging in anti-Russian propaganda. It was later reported that Russia had called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (which it currently chairs) to discuss the matter. The United States and other Western countries have not yet commented on the incident, but are likely to express support for Poland’s actions, given their own concerns about Russian intelligence activities in the region. The seizure of the high school building is just the latest incident in a long list of espionage and counter-espionage incidents involving Russia and its neighbors in Europe. Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, such incidents have increased considerably. The seizure of the high school building in Warsaw highlights the continuing tensions between Russia and its neighbors in Europe, as well as the centrality of intelligence-gathering and counter-intelligence efforts in the region.”

On March 1st DailyMail reported that “a Polish government official said on Wednesday that Russia was behind a hacking attack that blocked users’ access to the online tax filing system, as tensions between Warsaw and Moscow run high due to the war in Ukraine. Western officials say the Russian government is a global leader in hacking and uses cyber-espionage against foreign governments. Moscow has consistently denied that it carries out hacking operations. “Russians are responsible for yesterday’s attack, it must be made clear. We have information that makes it very likely that this was the adversary,” Janusz Cieszynski, a government official responsible for digitalisation, told broadcaster Polsat News. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.”

On Wednesday, March 23rd, Polish Onet media reported through confidential sources that Sergei Andreyev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Poland, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was given a list of 40 names of employees of the Russian embassy in Warsaw, identified as involved in espionage activities, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and requested their expulsion as Persona Non Grata (PNG). Later, it was confirmed via official statements which said the list was actually for 45 names, not 40 as initially reported. According to Perild “the day before on social media spread photos and videos of smoke over the Russian embassy in Warsaw, which could mean a large-scale burning of official documents. This may occur before a significant reduction or closure of the diplomatic mission.”