WARSAW, Poland — Polish prosecutors have formally charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian man with sabotage and covert activities conducted on behalf of Russian intelligence services. Authorities allege he was paid to vandalize memorials dedicated to Polish victims of Ukrainian-perpetrated massacres during World War II, with the goal of stirring up hostility between the two neighboring nations.
Poland has long maintained that Russia is waging a campaign of so-called hybrid warfare designed to fracture the relationship between Warsaw and Kyiv. Poland has stood as one of Ukraine’s most steadfast allies since Russia launched its full-scale military invasion in 2022, though anti-Ukrainian sentiment within Poland has been on the rise.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries hit a particularly rough patch in late June, when Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked Ukraine’s highest Polish state honor from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The move came after Zelenskyy chose to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, known as the UPA — a paramilitary group accused of carrying out massacres of Polish civilians during World War II.
The UPA fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, but the organization has also been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, primarily in Nazi-occupied areas of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
When announcing the charges, Poland’s Internal Security Agency stated the case had revealed “the mechanism of operation of Russian intelligence services, which pursued their own interests by inciting conflicts between the Polish and Ukrainian nations.”
Polish authorities say the suspect carried out 47 separate criminal offenses between November 2024 and August 2025. Beyond allegedly defacing memorial sites, he also faces charges related to planning a sabotage attack using a drone. Prosecutors allege he intended to fly the drone over the vehicle carrying the Polish president during a military parade in Warsaw on August 15, 2025. He was taken into custody before the parade took place.
Investigators say evidence points to the suspect being recruited through online channels and compensated using cryptocurrency.
This case comes after Poland’s Internal Security Agency disclosed in late June that it had uncovered a separate Russia-funded operation aimed at influencing Ukrainian refugees living in Poland — an effort allegedly designed to incite protests and heighten social unrest.
