Polish PM convinced fire at Polish drone factory was sabotage

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that there is no doubt that a fire at a factory producing components for drones in the south-central Polish city of Skarżysko-Kamienna was deliberately started as an act of sabotage.

Source: European Pravda, citing Polskie Radio

Details: Tusk spoke ahead of a government meeting about fires that had broken out in recent days at two industrial sites: the plant of defence contractor WB Electronics in Skarżysko-Kamienna, which produces unmanned systems, and a production and warehouse facility belonging to JFG Composites in Lublin, which manufactures components for the aerospace industry.

"As for the fires at the two plants… in the case of Skarżysko-Kamienna, there is no doubt that it was deliberate arson, an act of sabotage," he said.

"In the case of Lublin, we do not have such evidence, but given the nature of the production, it cannot be ruled out that deliberate arson also occurred there," he added.

Tusk said that the coming weeks and months will be decisive not only for the war between Russia and Ukraine, but will also pose a serious challenge to countries across the region because Russia plans to increase tensions and destabilise the region.

Tusk also linked the fires to a vote scheduled for Friday 4 September in the Polish parliament on President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a bill regulating the cryptocurrency market.

He called on opposition MPs and Nawrocki to change their position on the bill, saying its adoption would make it significantly harder to finance terrorist activities targeting Poland.

Tusk believes "the overwhelming majority of terrorist operations are based on cryptocurrencies", including acts of sabotage and arson.

"There was no doubt that the method of paying and hiring attackers was based on cryptocurrencies," he said, arguing that the lack of regulation had allowed the market to operate with virtually no oversight.

"Russia uses cryptocurrencies as the main... mechanism for financing this type of operation," Tusk added.

Background:

• A fire broke out at a factory belonging to a Polish company that produces drones for the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces. Before the fire, an unidentified person wearing a balaclava had allegedly appeared at the site.
• The National Prosecutor's Office of Poland launched an investigation into suspected participation in the activities of a foreign intelligence service against Poland and the commission of a terrorist-type crime in connection with the arson attack on the company producing drones for the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces.

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