Secret services
Zelenskyj in his sights: Pole is said to have spied for the assassination attempt
The President of Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelenskyj. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Was an attack on Zelenskyj planned? Poland’s secret service has arrested a suspected Russian agent. The suspect is said to have passed on security details from the key Rzeszow airport to Moscow.
The Polish citizen was caught on Wednesday in Poland, the public prosecutor’s office in Warsaw said. The investigators accuse him of declaring his “willingness to act for foreign secret services against Poland.” If convicted, he could face up to eight years in prison.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the man is said to have collected information about the security precautions at Rzeszow airport and passed it on to the Russians. “This was intended, among other things, to help the Russian secret services plan a possible assassination attempt on a foreign head of state: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” the statement said.
The tip came from the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office
The suspect agreed to work for Russian military intelligence and made contact with several Russian citizens who were directly involved in the hostilities in Ukraine. The tip about him came from the Ukrainian public prosecutor’s office, which presented extensive evidence to the Polish investigators.
EU and NATO member Poland is a close military ally of Russia-attacked Ukraine and a key hub for Western military aid to Kiev.
Rzeszow Airport for Zelenskyy arrival and departure point
The heavily guarded airport in Rzeszow in southeastern Poland, about 90 kilometers from Poland’s border with Ukraine, plays a central role not only for arms deliveries. It is the arrival and departure point for all Western politicians who want to travel to Kiev. And also for Zelensky and other top Ukrainian politicians on their way to the West. Since the airspace over Ukraine is closed due to air strikes, politicians are traveling to and from Kiev by night train. The arrival point for the trains is the Polish border town of Przemysl. From there it is about 70 kilometers to Rzeszow Airport.