Poland arrests man over suspected plan to kill Zelenskyy

Prosecutors say Polish national is suspected of supplying information to Russian military intelligence.

A man has been arrested in Poland on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors have said.

The Polish national, identified as Pawel K, is suspected of supplying information to Russian military intelligence and “helping the Russian special forces to plan a possible assassination attempt” against Zelenskyy, prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

It said the suspect had stated he was “ready to act on behalf of the military intelligence services of the Russian Federation and established contact with Russian citizens directly involved in the war in Ukraine”.

If convicted, the man could face up to eight years in prison, the statement said.

Ukrainian prosecutors had informed Poland about the activities, which had enabled them to gather “essential evidence” against the suspect, the statement added.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin said the suspect had been tasked with “gathering and transmitting to the aggressor state information about security at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport” in southeastern Poland.

The airport is under the control of United States troops. Zelenskyy frequently passes through the airport on his trips abroad. It is also used by foreign officials and aid convoys heading to Ukraine.

“This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but to the entire free world,” Kostin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“The Kremlin’s criminal regime… organises and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states,” he added.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski commended the work of his country’s special services and prosecutors in the operation as well as cooperation with neighbouring Ukraine.

Warsaw has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest backers since the Russian invasion in February 2022, although ties have frayed recently in a dispute over agricultural imports.