Prosecutors say Polish nationwide is suspected of supplying info to Russian navy intelligence.
A person has been arrested in Poland on allegations of being able to spy on behalf of Russia’s navy intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors have mentioned.
The Polish nationwide, recognized as Pawel Ok, is suspected of supplying info to Russian navy intelligence and “helping the Russian special forces to plan a possible assassination attempt” in opposition to Zelenskyy, prosecutors mentioned in a press release on Thursday.
It mentioned the suspect had said he was “ready to act on behalf of the military intelligence services of the Russian Federation and established contact with Russian citizens directly involved in the war in Ukraine”.
If convicted, the person may withstand eight years in jail, the assertion mentioned.
Ukrainian prosecutors had knowledgeable Poland in regards to the actions, which had enabled them to assemble “essential evidence” in opposition to the suspect, the assertion added.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor-Basic Andriy Kostin mentioned the suspect had been tasked with “gathering and transmitting to the aggressor state information about security at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport” in southeastern Poland.
The airport is underneath the management of United States troops. Zelenskyy regularly passes via the airport on his journeys overseas. It is usually utilized by overseas officers and support convoys heading to Ukraine.
“This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but to the entire free world,” Kostin wrote on X, previously Twitter.
“The Kremlin’s criminal regime… organises and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states,” he added.
Polish Overseas Minister Radoslaw Sikorski counseled the work of his nation’s particular companies and prosecutors within the operation in addition to cooperation with neighbouring Ukraine.
Warsaw has been one among Kyiv’s staunchest backers for the reason that Russian invasion in February 2022, though ties have frayed not too long ago in a dispute over agricultural imports.