Since Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has been on high alert for cases of foreign espionage and sabotage, and has arrested multiple people on those grounds.
Last month, two Ukrainian nationals were detained on suspicion of spying for a foreign intelligence service. Other recent incidents include an alleged Belarusian refugee accused by authorities of being a Russian operative, a fire set in a shopping mall near Warsaw and an alleged attempt to sabotage a railway station in southern Poland by leaving an unmarked railcar on tracks used by passenger trains.
“The adversary has begun preparations for war,” the Polish chief of the general staff, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, told Polish Radio Monday.
“It is building a certain environment here that is intended to undermine public trust in the government and institutions such as the armed forces and the police. This is to create conditions conducive to potential aggression on Polish territory,” Kukuła said.
In response, the Kremlin accused Poland on Tuesday of Russophobia. “In Poland, let’s say, everyone is trying to run ahead of the European locomotive in this regard. And Russophobia, of course, is flourishing there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state television reporter, according to Reuters.
This article has been updated.