Two Ukrainians allegedly working for Russia named as rail sabotage suspects – Polish PM

Polish investigators allege that two Ukrainian nationals cooperating with Russian intelligence services were responsible for acts of sabotage on Poland's railways, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said in a speech in the Sejm (Polish parliament).

Source: RMF24, a Polish online news portal, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Tusk said investigators have identified individuals believed to have carried out the recent sabotage attacks on the rail network. Both suspects are Ukrainian citizens who are allegedly working with Russian intelligence services.

Both men had entered Poland from Belarus and, after carrying out their actions, left again for Belarus through the Terespol border crossing before investigators established their identities.

One of the Ukrainians was convicted in May – the year is not specified – by a court in Lviv for sabotage activities in Ukraine.

Another one is "from Donbas", although it is unclear whether this refers to originating from the region or to living in the Russian-occupied territories of the east of Ukraine. He is reported to have previously served in the prosecution service.

Tusk said that he would not disclose further details in public as the investigation is ongoing.

He said that the security services are now convinced that both the explosion on the railway near the village of Mika and the placing of objects on rail infrastructure near Puławy were acts of sabotage.

Background:

• Before this, Polish security agencies claimed that "Eastern intelligence services" were involved in the railway sabotage, although Russia was not mentioned directly.
• The Warsaw-Lublin section is strategically important for delivering assistance to Ukraine. Another incident occurred on the same stretch of track, although it has not yet been deemed sabotage.
• Poland later decided to deploy the Territorial Defence Forces to patrol key parts of critical railway infrastructure in the east of the country.

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