English Section
Follow us on Google

Follow us on Google to get our latest news at the top of your search results

Belarusian man sentenced in Poland for plotting sabotage

28.09.2026 15:20
A court in the eastern Polish city of Lublin has sentenced a 28-year-old Belarusian man to three and a half years in prison for preparing an act of sabotage on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.
The Belarusian national, identified only as Vitali S., in court in Lublin on Monday.
The Belarusian national, identified only as Vitali S., in court in Lublin on Monday.Photo: PAP/Karol Zienkiewicz

The man, identified only as Vitali S. in line with Polish privacy rules, was found to have filmed a customs warehouse in the town of Chełm, which prosecutors said was to be set on fire.

Investigators said he sent the footage and information about the site to the person who had commissioned the task, and was paid about PLN 1,400 (roughly EUR 320) in cryptocurrency.

Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) said he was recruited and given instructions via the Telegram messaging app.

The Lublin District Court also banned him from holding public rights for nine years and fined him PLN 1,500 (EUR 343).

He was additionally charged with drug possession.

The trial, held on Monday, was closed to the public on grounds of state interest.

The man was arrested in August last year.

Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for Poland's minister coordinating the special services, said on X that ABW officers had detected and thwarted the plot before it could be carried out.

The verdict is not final and can be appealed.

(ał)

Source: PAP