Defense24 Report: Russia Waging Hybrid War Against Poland, Recruiting Ukrainians, Incidents Rising Since 2025
A Defense24 report reveals Russia has been waging a hybrid war against Poland for over six years, recruiting Ukrainians. Since 2025, incidents, including espionage and arsons, have increased. This is a systemic operation by Russian special services to destabilize Poland and test NATO's resolve.
The Polish portal Defense24 published a report systematizing Russia's hybrid attacks against Poland over six years. The document highlights the impact of these actions on Ukraine-Poland bilateral relations, noting that the systematic recruitment of Ukrainian citizens in Poland as «useful idiots» may have worsened relations.
Since 2022, when Poland became a key route for Western aid to Ukraine, the scale of subversive activities has increased, especially in 2025. Russia aims to prove it can «hurt» a NATO country without consequences. These are not isolated incidents but a large-scale, long-term operation by Russian special services, aimed at systemic destabilization and testing Poland's resilience. The number of hybrid incidents is projected to increase in 2026.
The Belarusian KGB has also intensified its activities, particularly in recruiting agents from the diaspora via Telegram, TikTok, and «VKontakte», offering payment in cryptocurrency. In 95% of cases, financial gain was the motivation. The cost of «jobs» ranges from small payments for graffiti to 10,000 dollars for serious crimes.
In 2023-2025, 82 individuals were charged with cooperating with foreign intelligence. Poland's Internal Security Agency investigated 78 cases of espionage and sabotage. The 2023 «camera operators case» involved a group of about 30 citizens from various countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Lithuania), acting with FSB support, monitoring ports, military facilities, and terminals. The coordinator is believed to be 28-year-old Russian Mikhail Mirgorodsky. The exposure thwarted a railway sabotage plot. Among those detained were 12 Ukrainian citizens, three Belarusians, and one Russian, who received sentences ranging from one to six years.
In late 2024, Belarusian Nikolai M. and Pole Bernard S. were arrested for espionage activities between 2018 and 2023, including monitoring a military airfield. The Belarusian was sentenced to over two years in prison. A high-profile case involves Warsaw judge Tomasz Szmydt, who handled classified national security information, then suddenly fled to Belarus, sought political asylum, and began working for state propaganda. He was stripped of his judge status and declared wanted.
A series of arsons, believed to be ordered by Russian special services, have been recorded: at an industrial warehouse in Marki, a DIY warehouse in Gdansk, an Italian restaurant in Gdynia, and a market in Warsaw in April 2024. In the market case, Belarusian Stepan K. and a group of three Poles and three Belarusians were arrested. A fire in May 2024 at a Warsaw shopping center destroyed about 1,400 stores. Three Ukrainian citizens were convicted. The investigation concluded it was arson ordered by Russian special services. This group also allegedly caused a fire in Warsaw on April 14, 2024, and the arson of an IKEA store in Vilnius on May 9, and planned to set fire to an IKEA store in Riga. In July 2024, an «explosive» package was discovered in the Łódź Voivodeship, also attributed to Russian special services.