FSB claims to have uncovered Polish spy network in Kaliningrad on Poland’s Independence Day

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that it had uncovered a Polish spy ring in the Kaliningrad region, and that a court there had remanded two people in custody on espionage charges, the state newswire reported. The agency did not disclose the names or nationalities of those detained.

The FSB linked the detainees to two Polish intelligence services: the Military Intelligence Service and the Internal Security Agency. According to the FSB, the suspects collected and passed on information about Russian military personnel and Defence Ministry facilities, as well as about Kaliningrad’s economic situation and its social and migration policies.

The agency also issued formal warnings to seven more Polish citizens and three Russians over alleged contacts with Polish intelligence. All of the Poles have been banned from entering Russia.

The announcement came on Poland’s Independence Day.

A day earlier, officers of Poland’s Internal Security Agency detained two Ukrainian citizens in Mińsk Mazowiecki, near Warsaw. They are accused of gathering information on behalf of Russian intelligence services and setting fire to multiple cars.

Earlier, Polish authorities detained six people, also on suspicion of spying for Russia. Five of them are Polish citizens and one is a Russian woman. According to law enforcement, they were involved in illegal shipments of “materials for military use”.

In late October, Polish authorities arrested 55-year-old Russian national Alexander Mashovets in the city of Świdnica on espionage charges. Polish police say he photographed railway infrastructure facilities. His sister said he has been fascinated by train photography since his youth.