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Poland detains eight suspected of preparing for acts of sabotage-UPDATED

21 October 2025 14:57 (UTC +04:00)

Poland and Romania detained eight people suspected of planning sabotage on behalf of Russia, authorities in Warsaw said on Tuesday, with three arrests concerning an alleged new plan to send exploding parcels, this time to Ukraine, APA reports, citing Reuters.

European officials have previously blamed Russia for detonations of parcels carried by DHL and DPD in Europe in 2024, in what security services said was part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. Russia has denied any such plans.

Poland says it has been targeted with tactics such as arson and cyberattacks in a "hybrid war" waged by Russia to destabilise nations that support Kyiv in the Russian war in Ukraine. Moscow has denied such accusations.

"Preliminary information indicates that they created a route of some kind to send explosives through Poland and Romania to Ukraine," Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesman for the Special Services Coordinator, told reporters.

"One of them, a 21-year-old Ukrainian, was detained here in Poland near Warsaw. His colleagues, who were traveling to Romania, were detained by the Romanian special services in Bucharest."

There was no immediate comment from Romanian authorities.

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12:45

Polish security services have detained eight people suspected of preparing to carry out acts of sabotage in various regions, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, APA reports, citing Reuters.

Officials have said Poland has been targeted with tactics such as arson and cyberattacks in a "hybrid war" waged by Russia to destabilise nations supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, which has denied such accusations.

"ABW (the internal security agency), in cooperation with other services, detained eight people in various parts of the country in recent days, suspected of preparing acts of sabotage," Tusk wrote on X.

"Further operational activities are continuing," he added, but gave no details.

On X, the minister responsible for special services, Tomasz Siemoniak, said, "The matters ... concern reconnaissance of military facilities and critical infrastructure elements, the preparation of means to carry out acts of sabotage, and the direct execution of attacks."