Poland warns: Russia may exploit tensions with Ukraine for sabotage

The Polish government has warned that Russia may exploit tensions in relations between Ukraine and Poland to carry out malicious actions.

Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, was asked on Polish radio station RMF FM whether Polish special services have recently observed increased activity by Russian bot farms around the escalating conflict between Poland and Ukraine.

"Of course, yes. This information war has reached a significantly higher level. (...) Right now it is very easy to pour oil on the fire, and this is a problem, because Russia's dream has been and remains to maximise tensions between Poland and Ukraine. We must bear in mind that Russian [secret] services will try to exploit these tensions," Siemoniak responded.

He was also asked to comment on a statement by Poland's Internal Security Agency, which reported that it has "identified a mechanism for using Ukrainian refugees in Poland for actions initiated and financed by Russia".

In response, he noted that this mechanism is aimed at "undermining trust among Ukrainians in Poland in the current Ukrainian authorities and President Zelenskyy and stoking tensions in Polish-Ukrainian relations".

"This is an attempt to influence Ukrainians residing in Poland, including by undermining the ties of Ukrainians with the Ukrainian authorities. This serves Russia's interests… An extremely dangerous mechanism," Siemoniak explained.

Nine Ukrainian citizens and two Belarusians were recently detained in Poland and are being expelled from the country. According to Polish special services, they were recruiting Ukrainians for paid participation in rallies and were acting on instructions from Russia.