Polish prosecutors charge two Russian citizens with spying for Moscow

Polish prosecutors have charged two Russian citizens for "participating in Russian intelligence activities and passing on information to that intelligence service which could have caused damage to the Republic of Poland," prosecutors said on Monday.

The two suspects were partially named as Igor R and Irina R under Polish privacy laws.

Igor R was additionally charged with acting jointly with one Russian and two Ukrainian citizens in sending a parcel containing explosives via a courier company in July 2024.

"The parcel contained explosive devices and materials in the form of nitroglycerin, as well as concealed military-grade electric detonators and initiating devices," the prosecutor's statement read.

"In connection with sending this package, Igor R was charged with causing an imminent danger to the life or health of many people or to property on a large scale in the form of an explosion of explosives," it added.

In September, fifteen people were charged over an alleged Russia-backed operation that planned arson attacks across Europe through courier services.

Polish officials say the country is the target of espionage and hybrid war attacks initiated by Moscow that have grown more serious since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier this year, Poland's interior ministry said the ABW had detained at least 44 people on suspicion of espionage or sabotage for Russia or Belarus in Poland since the start of the all-out war.

More broadly, security agencies across Europe have accused Russia of staging dozens of attacks and other sabotage incidents on the continent since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, often using people with passports other than Russian for its malign activities, such as Bulgarian, Moldovan or Ukrainian.

In July last year, a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies took place in Poland, Germany and the UK. Western officials blamed the incidents on the Kremlin.

Moscow has repeatedly denied such allegations, despite a slew of evidence and court cases proving otherwise.

In one example, a London court in March convicted a group of Bulgarians living in the UK of spying for Russia and plotting to assassinate or kidnap Kristo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist and former lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat.