On Friday, a Polish court sentenced a Ukrainian man to eight years in prison for preparing sabotage actions on behalf of Russia.
Sergiy S., a 51-year-old man, was found guilty of being a member of a criminal organisation that planned acts of sabotage for foreign secret agencies.
The Wroclaw regional court “sentenced him to eight years in prison,” court spokesman Marek Poteralski told AFP.
After Sergiy S. was apprehended in January 2024, Poland’s ABW internal security service stated that the man was “preparing to torch buildings” in the southwestern city “close to infrastructure elements of strategic importance.”
At the time, the agency stated that he was “acting within an organised criminal group, under the orders of the Russian secret services.”
In addition, four other people were charged in the case.
Poland has been a strong ally of Kyiv since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
The EU and NATO member is one of the primary countries through which Western nations supply Ukraine with arms and ammunition to aid in the war against Russia.
Since the invasion, Poland has apprehended many people suspected of preparing Russian sabotage attempts.
Poland said in May that it would restrict Russian diplomats’ movements in reaction to what it called Moscow’s hybrid warfare.
In October, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in the western city of Poznan due to sabotage attempts attributed to Russia.
In a tit-for-tat measure, Russia ordered the closure of Poland’s consulate in Saint Petersburg.
Poland responded by threatening to close all Russian consulates on its soil if the “terrorism” it blamed on Moscow continued.
