“The man declared himself to be a reporter for a Russian TV outlet. Meanwhile, as found by Poland’s Military Counterintelligence Service, he would collect information that was later used by Russia in its efforts against Poland, including disinformation campaigns,” said Stanisław Żaryn, the spokesman for Poland’s security services chief.
He added that the Russian man, named as Evgeniy Reshetnev, “has been entered in the register of foreigners whose stay within the territory of Poland is undesirable …”
The move was made at the request of the head of Poland’s Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), Żaryn said in a statement posted on the gov.pl website.
He added that the Russian "would engage in activities that went beyond the scope of work of a journalist."
The man’s activities “posed a threat to the interest of Poland and the Allied forces here,” the statement also said.
He has been banned from entering Poland for five years and subjected to a three-year ban on entering the European Union’s passport-free Schengen area, according to the statement.
“It is common for the Russian Federation to use its journalists working in Poland for the purposes of waging information warfare against our country, NATO and the West,” Żaryn also said in his statement.
Poland is one of the "prime targets" for "Russia’s disinformation and propaganda efforts,” he added.
(gs/pk)
Source: gov.pl