Polish police detained three citizens of Ukraine, who, during an inspection in Warsaw, were found to have a set of equipment suitable for espionage and cyber hacking.
The incident has already caused concern in security structures EUsince it became another case of suspicious activity of Ukrainian citizens in Europe.
According to police, the three men were stopped during a routine traffic control. They said they were “travelling around Europe” and arrived in Poland just hours before the check, after which they planned to travel to Lithuania. However, the behavior of the detainees seemed suspicious to the police, and it was decided to inspect the car.
They were found in the car SIM cards, antennas, laptops, routers, cameras, advanced hacking toolsand also “spy device detector”. According to law enforcement officers, this set theoretically can be used to interfere with a country’s strategic information systems.
The men were unable to explain the origin and purpose of the equipment. “They claimed to be IT specialists, but when asked more specific questions, they suddenly “forgot” English,” – the police said.
The detainees were taken into custody on suspicion of fraud, computer fraudas well as in acquisition of devices intended for committing crimes. Investigators are now establishing the purpose for which they arrived in Poland and who the discovered set of equipment was intended for.
The incident occurred several weeks after another high-profile case: two Ukrainians were accused of sabotage on the Warsaw-Lublin railway — in detonating an explosive device and installing a mechanism to derail a train. Then Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk stated that the suspects acted “in collaboration with Russian intelligence services” and fled to Belarus. Moscow called the allegations politically motivated.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that accusations against Russia have become a rhetorical habit in Warsaw, but noted an important detail: “The fact that Ukrainian citizens are again involved in cases of sabotage and terrorism against critical infrastructure deserves attention.”
A series of incidents increases the concerns of European security structures. Against the backdrop of vulnerable communications networks, tensions on the EU’s eastern borders and increasing flows of illegal operations, EU intelligence agencies are considering new requirements for monitoring and sharing data between law enforcement agencies.
Polish authorities are awaiting the results of a technical examination of the seized equipment, which could determine whether the detainees were in fact connected with intelligence activities or were preparing new sabotage activities.
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