By Olha Hembik | 2025-08-25

WARSAW -- A glass bottle filled with fuel arcs through the air and explodes against a European target chosen in Moscow. The attacker, often a migrant lured on Telegram, pauses only to snap a photo -- proof of sabotage in exchange for a promised payout.

Such acts have grown more frequent across Europe since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, especially in Poland. Authorities say the operations trace back to the Kremlin.

At a July 29 cabinet meeting, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that 32 people had been detained on suspicion of cooperating with Russian intelligence.

They had all committed acts of sabotage, assault and arson to the detriment of Poland's interests, Polskie Radio reported.

The suspects include Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens, along with a Colombian national accused of two arson attacks last year.

"Any such action -- either at the border or inside the country -- is, directly or indirectly, cooperation with Russia," Tusk said.

Recruiting on Telegram

A Colombian national accused of carrying out arson attacks in Poland on behalf of Russia was arrested in Prague, Czechia, in June. The Polish Internal Security Agency announced charges against him on July 21. Officials said the 27-year-old acted in the Kremlin's interests.

"The incidents occurred on May 23, 2024, in Warsaw, and then a week later, on May 30, in Radom. In both cases construction supply warehouses caught fire," Jacek Dobrzyński, the agency's spokesman, wrote on his page on X.

Investigators said the day before the attacks, the suspect received instructions from a handler on making Molotov cocktails and using specific transportation. The agency said Russian intelligence services used the Telegram app to "systematically and widely recruit individuals of Latin American origin with military experience."

A Czech court already sentenced the Colombian in June to eight years for torching a Prague bus depot and plotting an attack on a shopping center. He partially admitted guilt and could face up to life in prison.

Easy money

Poland's Internal Security Agency said Russian intelligence has tried to lure South American citizens in the European Union with promises of fast money to carry out sabotage.

Jerzy Rejt, an activist for Poland's Ukrainian minority and the first chairman of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, said Russian recruitment methods also target people arriving from Poland's eastern borders.

"These people very often perform jobs for Russia for money," he told Kontur.

Ukrainian activists and civic groups monitor such cases and try to warn young people, who are especially at risk because they hope to earn quickly without realizing the consequences.

Newly recruited agents not only scouted targets and set fires but also documented their actions. Russian-language media then used the images in propaganda, portraying warehouses as arms depots.

Dobrzyński said Russian outlets portrayed the Radom fire as a blaze at a "logistics center that was allegedly holding military equipment awaiting delivery to Ukraine as part of the aid from allies," Rzeczpospolita reported.

Panic is the goal

Serhii Zhukov, an analyst at Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, said the Kremlin aims to find weaknesses in European intelligence services and sow fear in peaceful cities, pushing residents to distance themselves from the war in Ukraine.

"There's a mission to use fear to weaken support for Ukraine. The logic is, as long as we're helping Ukraine, the Russians also see us as the enemy," Zhukov told Kontur.

He pointed to Russian television programs where propagandists and politicians openly call for "striking London and Warsaw."

"That makes people think it's better to not get involved in this conflict and to not make Russia angry," Zhukov said. Russia benefits when Europeans, particularly Poles, lose confidence in governments seen as unable to protect them.

Another goal of Russia's sabotage is to inflame ethnic divisions, said Mykola Davydiuk, author of How Putin's Propaganda Works.

"Russia is killing two birds with one stone: turning peoples against each other," Davydiuk told Kontur.

He said populist politicians can exploit the nationality of recruited migrants for their own ends. To counter this, he urged greater communication to build ties between communities.

"When there is no constructive dialogue, you often end up with gray holes in communication that Russia fills with its propaganda," Davydiuk said.

In light of Moscow's hybrid war, Dobrzyński stressed the need for cooperation among law enforcement and judicial authorities in Poland, Lithuania, Romania and the Czech Republic, Rzeczpospolita reported.

Poland has also taken diplomatic steps. In response to sabotage, Warsaw closed Russia's consulates general in Poznań and Krakow, accusing Russian diplomats of involvement. Only the Gdańsk consulate remains open, but activists are demanding its closure along with the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw.