It was the private radio station RMF.FM that first reported the dismantling of a Russian spy ring in Poland last week. Official confirmation followed soon after. “The suspects carried out espionage activities against Poland and also prepared acts of sabotage on behalf of the Russian secret service,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said of the alleged spies. . “Russia likes to use ‘proxies’ for such actions, i.e. not Russian citizens,” military and security expert Nico Lange explains to ZDFheute. 
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They are citizens of two neighboring countries, who are now part of everyday life in Poland and therefore have an advantage over the Russians. “Russian citizens would have immediately noticed why people with another citizenship were being recruited,” a Polish expert told the daily Rzeczpospolita.
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02/28/2023 | 14:51 min The alleged spies were active in southeastern Subcarpathian Voivodeship, which borders Ukraine. There, the suspects allegedly spied on and documented Western arms deliveries to Ukraine with the help of cameras installed on railway lines. Furthermore, the Polish domestic secret service ABW found GPS transmitters on the suspects, which were supposed to be installed on the trains.
“Because of its border with Ukraine, Poland plays a central role in Western military aid to Ukraine. A particular focus is Rzeszów Airport, which has become a central hub of military support for the West,” explains military expert Lange .
The decisive factor is not only the proximity to the Ukrainian border – the city of Rzeszów is only 80 kilometers from it – but also the airport’s connection to the road and rail network, which leads to Ukraine.
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However, it is not known what information the spy network discovered in Poland was able to collect. “It is possible that the Polish internal secret service provided alleged Russian agents with false information during their investigations,” Lange said. It is also questionable whether the information they collected would have any impact on the Russian war.
Either way, military expert Nico Lange has his doubts. “Russian Air Force has no sovereignty over Ukrainian airspace. It is also incapable of attacking targets in western Ukraine. Anti-aircraft weapons provided by the West have also ensured this. And drones and cruise missiles cannot be used to attack trains that transport military goods,” said the expert.
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03/16/2023 | 02:42 min However, the allegation by the Polish authorities that this spy group in Poland would have prepared acts of sabotage is explosive. “The Russian military intelligence service GRU is already suspected of such attacks in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria,” says Lange, referring to several attacks on ammunition depots that took place in the two countries between 2011 and 2020.
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