Did Poland foil a Russian plot in Warsaw?
Polish authorities, working with U.S. services, announced the arrest of a suspect accused of acting for Russian intelligence.
What did Polish authorities uncover in Warsaw? On 14 August 2026, the country's prime minister, Donald Tusk, was reported to have said that the authorities, working with U.S. services, had foiled an alleged Russian plot to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in the Polish capital. The announcement was made a day earlier, on 13 August 2026.
A suspect, accused of acting for Russian intelligence, was arrested. Tusk said this was the first such Russian-directed plot in another NATO country.
The wider setting
The case belongs to a wider pattern of the Russo-Ukrainian war, in which citizens of the Russian Federation and people of other nationalities working for Russia have been publicly identified as spies or agents. These have been linked to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the foreign intelligence service (SVR) and the military intelligence service (GRU), each with its own remit.
The announcement placed the cooperation between Polish and U.S. services in the foreground. The alleged target was a Ukrainian-American, and the suspect was accused of acting for Russian intelligence.
