Russia arrests two Polish spies in Kaliningrad as espionage showdown between the two countries intensifies
- Input
- 2026-11-12 00:08:33
- Updated
- 2026-11-12 00:08:33
[Financial News] Russian authorities have arrested two Polish intelligence agents who were collecting military information in Kaliningrad, Russia’s exclave, escalating the covert espionage war between Russia and Poland.
According to TASS Russian News Agency and other foreign media on the 11th (local time), Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it had uncovered a Polish intelligence network operating in Kaliningrad and detained two agents.
The arrested individuals are believed to belong to the Polish Ministry of National Defense’s Military Intelligence Service and the Internal Security Agency. They are suspected of gathering information on Russian Defense Ministry personnel, military facilities, and local social and economic conditions. The FSB has launched criminal proceedings against them on espionage charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
■ Mass warnings and visa cancellations for associates... Poland protests “provocation on Independence Day”
The FSB also issued official warnings for espionage or treason to seven Polish citizens and three Russians who had been in contact with Polish intelligence authorities, in addition to the detained agents. It added that it had barred six Poles who assisted Polish intelligence agencies this year from entering Russia for an extended period, and had revoked 14 visas.
Poland strongly protested. Jacek Dobrzyński, a spokesperson for Poland’s intelligence services, dismissed the announcement in a post on X, saying, “We consider an announcement like this, made on Poland’s Independence Day (November 11), to be another provocation and an act of spreading disinformation.”
■ Poland uncovers ‘Russian operatives’ a day earlier... Spy war heats up
Russia’s announcement came just one day after Poland revealed that it had uncovered two operatives recruited by Russia. The previous day, Poland’s National Security Bureau said it had arrested two Ukrainians who photographed military infrastructure in the country and carried out acts of sabotage, including arson, with the aim of fomenting anti-Ukrainian sentiment.
Poland, a key hub for aid supplies to Ukraine and currently hosting 860,000 refugees, has become a major target of Russian espionage and sabotage operations. According to Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s coordinator of special services, Polish authorities have uncovered about 100 suspects in espionage and sabotage cases since January this year alone.
Meanwhile, Kaliningrad, where the spy case took place, is a Russian exclave on the Baltic coast, separated from mainland Russia and sharing borders with NATO members Poland and Lithuania. It is a geopolitical powder keg where military tensions are rising; Russia has recently warned that it could use nuclear weapons if the West isolates the region.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter