Polish prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian man with carrying out sabotage acts on behalf of Russian intelligence, allegedly aimed at stoking tensions between Poland and Ukraine. The suspect, identified as Illia K under Polish privacy rules, faces 47 criminal charges covering the period from November 2024 to August 2025, when he was arrested. Alleged acts targeting memorialsProsecutors said the alleged operations included the desecration of memorials for Polish victims linked to the Volyhnia massacre, which they said was carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) during the Second World War. The UPA is widely known for involvement in mass killings of Polish civilians in areas that were then part of Poland and are now in western Ukraine. Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) said the objective was to “incite ethnic tensions” between the two countries. Prosecutors also said that although the defendant allegedly acted for financial reasons rather than ideology, most of the alleged sabotage was carried out for the benefit of foreign intelligence. Espionage investigations riseIn May, the ABW said it had launched 48 espionage investigations in 2024, more than double the number started the previous year. It said Russian intelligence services had focused on discrediting Poland internationally and exploiting “historical ethnic antagonisms”, particularly in Polish-Ukrainian relations. The charges against Illia K included alleged vandalism at the Monument to the Jewish Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, as well as damage to memorials to Polish victims of the Volyhnia massacre in Domostawa and Wrocław. Prosecutors said the defendant placed inscriptions and symbols that, they alleged, glorified the UPA. Drone plan and alleged recruitment via cryptoProsecutors further alleged that the man made preparations to fly a drone over President Karol Nawrocki’s vehicle during the Polish Armed Forces’ Day parade in Warsaw on August 15. They said he was arrested three days before the event. ABW said the suspect allegedly recruited people to take part in the crimes, using cryptocurrencies registered in Russia and China to pay participants. According to prosecutors, Illia K received tasks from an unidentified handler through a messaging service. He then allegedly sent back photos to show the tasks had been carried out. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment. Long-running dispute over UPA legacyThe Volyhnia massacre took place between 1943 and 1945, as the UPA fought to create an independent Ukraine for Ukrainians. Prosecutors said up to 100,000 members of the minority Polish population were killed during the conflict. The issue continues to affect relations between the neighbours. At times, Kyiv has blocked Polish requests to exhume victims’ remains from mass graves, although exhumations have resumed. The dispute came to the fore again in May, when President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree naming a Ukrainian military unit after the “Heroes of the UPA”. In response, Nawrocki removed Poland’s highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle, from Zelensky. The action had previously been taken only once in more than 300 years. A Polish academic specialising in eastern affairs, Wojciech Konończuk, director of Warsaw’s Office for Eastern Studies, said Poles and Ukrainians view the UPA differently. In a recent interview with the BBC, he said many Ukrainians regard the group as heroes for fighting the Soviet forces, while in Poland the UPA is seen as a criminal formation responsible for killings of Polish civilians. Join the discussion? 17 July 2026
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