Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister overseeing Poland's intelligence and security services, said Russia had intensified its information campaign against Poland in recent weeks, using trolls and bots to amplify divisions and influence public debate.
His comments, in an interview with private broadcaster RMF FM, came amid strained relations between Poland and Ukraine following President Karol Nawrocki's decision to strip Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland's highest state honour amid a dispute over the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after nationalist fighters accused of massacring Polish civilians during World War II.
"Russia's dream—the dream of the Russian security services—has always been to create the greatest possible tension between Poland and Ukraine," Siemoniak said.
Asked whether Russia could stage a provocation, including an attack targeting Ukrainians in Poland to inflame anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Siemoniak said such scenarios could not be ruled out.
"We are observing interest from individuals acting on behalf of Russian services in various facilities important to Polish-Ukrainian relations," he said.
He said the surveillance extended beyond military sites, critical infrastructure and facilities involved in supporting Ukraine to include humanitarian organisations and other locations linked to Polish-Ukrainian cooperation.
Siemoniak said in the interview that authorities had no information pointing to a specific imminent plot but said security services had to prepare for attempts by Russia to exploit political tensions.
More broadly, he said Western intelligence agencies are concerned about the possibility of Russian hybrid operations—or even direct military action—targeting Poland and the Baltic states, the Reuters news agency reported.
"Russia has an arsenal of such actions, and they are preparing them," Siemoniak said. "We have to take into account every possible scenario,” he added.
Siemoniak said on Monday that Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) recently detained nine Ukrainians and two Belarusian nationals accused of organising demonstrations among Ukrainian refugees in Poland as part of a Russian influence operation.
Poland has repeatedly accused Russia of conducting hybrid operations, including disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and acts of sabotage, against the country and other NATO members since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
(gs)
Source: Reuters, IAR, PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Marcin Matuszewski.