 "Polamd says it dismantled a Russian spy ring operating in the country. Representational image; Source: Reuters")
Polish security services on Thursday announced that they have carried out a raid on a Russian spy network in collaboration with Czech intelligence. The Polish operation came just one day after the Czech Republic announced that it had dismantled a major Russian propaganda network.
Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesperson for the Internal Security Agency, revealed the outcome of the operation on social media. He said that the actions carried out by the Polish security services are connected to charges filed earlier this year against a Polish citizen suspected of spying for Russia, according to.
Dobrzynski stated that the agency had conducted raids in Poland’s capital city, Warsaw, as well as Tychy. They had carried out interrogations as part of an investigation into espionage activities directed against European Union (EU). The aim of these spying missions was to advance the Kremlin’s foreign policy objectives.
In Dobrzynski’s words, the spy network’s goals included “weakening Poland’s position on the world stage, discrediting Ukraine as well as the image of EU organs.”
He noted that the agency’s operations were the result of international cooperation with several European services, particularly with Czech partners.
The Czech Republic revealed on Wednesday that it had uncovered a Moscow-financed network that disseminated Russian propaganda and wielded influence across Europe, including in the European Parliament, using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site.
According to Dobrzynski, the Polish citizen who was suspected for Russian espionage in January, was embedded in Polish and EU parliament circles, carried out tasks commissioned and financed by Russian intelligence. His tasks included “propaganda activity, disinformation as well as political provocation. Their objective was to build Russian spheres of influence in Europe.”