Polish national accused of espionage for Russia in alleged Zelensky assassination plot

A Polish citizen was arrested on charges of spying for the Russian government for a possible assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Identified as Pawel K., the Polish citizen was charged with readiness to act for foreign intelligence against Poland, according to the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office.

Pawel K. was accused of collecting and providing Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency with information on the security of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport located in southeastern Poland, not far from Ukraine.

“This was to help Russian special services plan a possible assassination attempt on the Ukrainian President during his presence in Poland,” Ukrainian prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said in a statement on X.

According to Ukrainian prosecutor general Andriy Kostin, the suspect established contact with Russian military command representatives and “informed them of his readiness to cooperate” with Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency.

The suspect was detained Wednesday after the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine shared the suspect’s information with Polish officials. Ukraine then obtained “key evidence” during the investigation.

If convicted, the suspect could face up to eight years in prison, according to the office.

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“This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but to the entire free world,” Kostin said. “The Kremlin’s criminal regime is constantly trying to undermine European and global security. It organizes and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states.”

In Germany, two German-Russians were arrested Thursday on charges of espionage. One of the men is accused of planning to carry out attacks in the hopes of undermining aid meant for Ukraine.