The Polish secret service has broken up a ring of suspected Russian spies. "The whole espionage network was dismantled," Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told public broadcaster Polskie Radio.

There was a real threat to Poland. "It was clearly a spy ring collecting information for the benefit of those who attacked Ukraine and are committing war crimes there," Blaszczak said.

According to unofficial information from the radio station Rmf.fm, the espionage network is said to have primarily dealt with spying on railway lines. Accordingly, Polish secret services discovered hidden cameras on important routes and railway junctions, which recorded the traffic on the tracks and transmitted the images to the Internet.

The EU and NATO country Poland has taken in around 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine. It is also the main hub for the delivery of Western military aid to Ukraine.

In recent months, Russian spies have been exposed in many places in Europe. At the end of 2022, a suspected German double agent was exposed. The employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is said to have betrayed state secrets to Russia.

In mid-January, a Swedish court convicted a former secret service agent and his brother for passing sensitive information to the Russian military intelligence service GRU.

At the end of February, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) warned of the high risk of Russian disinformation, espionage and sabotage in view of the ongoing Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.