Polish prosecutors indict 18-year-old Ukrainian for Russian-backed sabotage operations

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Polish prosecutors have filed an indictment against an 18-year-old Ukrainian citizen accused of carrying out acts of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence services in an effort to incite ethnic tensions.

According to a statement by Poland’s Internal Security Agency, the teenager, named only as Illia K. in line with Polish privacy laws, was indicted on Tuesday on suspicion of “conducting diversionary and sabotage activities on behalf of Russian special services.”

According to the agency, his actions were intended to fuel ethnic tensions between Poland and Ukraine.

“Once again, investigators uncovered the operating methods of Russian intelligence services, which sought to advance their own interests by instigating conflict between the Polish and Ukrainian peoples,” the agency said in the statement.

Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for Poland’s minister for special services, said Thursday: “The young Ukrainian, acting on behalf of Russian services, placed inscriptions on buildings and memorial sites glorifying the UPA [now defunct Ukrainian Insurgent Army] and [late Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan] Bandera. In doing so he desecrated places of particular importance to Poles … including the Monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Volhynia Massacre Memorial,” Dobrzyński wrote on X .

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army killed tens of thousands of Poles during World War II in an ethnic cleansing campaign in what is now western Ukraine.

Although Poland and Ukraine remain close allies against Russia, historical disputes continue to strain relations. Tensions flared in May after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named a Ukrainian military unit “Heroes of the UPA,” drawing outrage from Polish officials .

According to the Internal Security Agency, Illia K.is also accused of planning a drone sabotage attack. If convicted he could face 10 years to life in prison, according to Polish media .