The key facts
- Five Poles (aged 25–52) and a 37-year-old Russian woman were detained; four, including the Russian woman, were charged with espionage and remanded in custody for three months
- According to the investigation, from June 2023 to December 2025 the group supplied ammunition components to Russia via the Kaliningrad region; the value exceeded 2 million zlotys
- Searches were carried out at 21 locations in three voivodeships; the investigation is being conducted by the National Prosecutor's Office in Białystok
Detentions and charges
Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) detained six people suspected of cooperating with Russian intelligence services and of illegally supplying military-grade materials. According to the agency euronews, those detained include five Polish citizens and one Russian woman; the coordinator of special services, Tomasz Siemoniak, specified that the Poles are aged 25 to 52, while the Russian woman is 37. Four of them, including the Russian woman, were charged with espionage and, by court decision, remanded in custody for three months; the other two were given non-custodial preventive measures. All six were charged with participation in an organized criminal group and with violating the rules of international trade in strategically significant goods and technologies. Information about the detentions was provided by the spokesman of the National Prosecutor's Office, Przemysław Nowak.
The supply scheme
According to the investigation, the group operated from June 2023 to December 2025, and its activities covered Poland, Lithuania and Russia. The members purchased components, including through online stores, arranged for their receipt and transported them across the border into the Kaliningrad region in cars fitted with hidden compartments, repeatedly crossing the Polish-Russian border. Part of the cargo was intercepted by border services. As euronews reports, the items in question were ammunition components, including cartridge cases and shells; according to the prosecutor's office, the total value of the goods purchased and taken out exceeded 2 million zlotys (about 455 thousand euros). Siemoniak stated that «the group was illegally supplying significant volumes of military-grade materials to Russia, used for the production of ammunition and weapons systems», and, in his words to journalists, the operation was aimed at circumventing the strict embargo in this area.
Course of the operation and context
The operational and investigative activities were carried out from October 21 to November 2 by the ABW's Olsztyn branch; searches were conducted at 21 locations in the Warmian-Masurian, Pomeranian and Greater Poland voivodeships. The investigation continues under the supervision of a unit of the National Prosecutor's Office in Białystok, and investigators are checking the possible involvement of other individuals — this is reported by Life.ru. Siemoniak also stated that since January 1, 2024, charges have been brought against almost a hundred people in ABW espionage and sabotage cases. Deutsche Welle notes the context: Poland is a member of the EU and NATO and the main transit route for Western military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and on Tuesday Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported the prevention of a possible provocation near the border with the Kaliningrad region. According to DW, the Russian embassy did not respond promptly to a request for comment; the Kremlin consistently denies carrying out sabotage in NATO countries.
