Polish special services are preparing for possible Russian sabotage operations aimed at aggravating relations between Poles and Ukrainians, the minister responsible for special services, Tomasz Siemoniak, said in an interview with RMF FM radio, quoted by "Reuters".
According to him, in recent weeks Russia has intensified its information operations against Poland, using trolls and bots to spread controversial topics and deepen public tension.
"The dream of Russia, of the Russian services, has always been the greatest possible tension between Poland and Ukraine," Siemoniak said.
He warned that a provocation, including an attack on Ukrainian citizens in Poland, which could cause additional tension, could not be ruled out. According to him, Polish services are observing increased interest from individuals associated with Russian intelligence services in sites of importance for Polish-Ukrainian relations.
Semoniak specified that this concerns not only military sites, critical infrastructure and logistics centers used to assist Ukraine, but also humanitarian organizations and other places related to cooperation between the two countries.
The minister emphasized that the authorities do not have information about a specific planned attack, but are obliged to anticipate attempts by Russia to take advantage of the current political tension.
The warning comes against the backdrop of a cooling of relations between Warsaw and Kiev. The latest tension was triggered by the decision of Polish President Karol Nawrotski to revoke the highest Polish state award awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The decision was related to a dispute over the name of a Ukrainian military unit called the "Heroes of the UPA", formations associated with the Volyn massacres. During World War II, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) were accused of mass murders of tens of thousands of Polish civilians in Volyn and Eastern Galicia - a topic that remains extremely sensitive in Polish society today.
Although Poland has become one of Ukraine's closest allies since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, other disputes have arisen between the two countries in the past two years, including over the import of Ukrainian grain, historical memory and the exhumation of victims of the Volyn massacres.
According to Semoniak, Western intelligence services are generally also concerned about the risk of Russia launching hybrid or even direct attacks on Poland and the Baltic states.
"Russia has an arsenal of such actions and is preparing them. We must be ready for different scenarios," he said.