The West is supporting Ukraine with massive arms deliveries in its defensive struggle against Russia – to the displeasure of Moscow, of course. The “Washington Post” now reports how Russian forces are said to have tried to prevent such deliveries (source here). The newspaper spoke to dozens of security officials in Poland, Ukraine and the United States and combed through documents and social media.
Accordingly, Russia is said to have tried via social networks to win over a network of amateurs for sabotage and arson actions, but also murder. However, the Polish authorities could have foiled the plans. According to the report, this is how it happened: At the beginning of the year, ads appeared in Telegram channels used by refugee groups in Poland – scattered between job offers, housing tips and other things.
Activities such as distributing leaflets or hanging signs in public places were offered with content such as “Nato go home” or “Poland is not Ukraine” for a small fee. So simply spreading pro-Russian propaganda. According to Polish officials, this only served one purpose: to test the willingness of those recruited for further work.
Anyone who could prove what he had done via photos is said to have been recruited for further jobs: for example, using mobile phones and cameras, which they received through dead mailboxes, to deliver reports and photos of railway stations, airports and seaports from all over Poland. According to the Polish investigators, in March there were instructions to derail trains with weapons bound for Ukraine.
Russia’s secret service could be behind it
According to the report, Polish officials assume that the Russian secret service GRU is behind the actions. Russia’s goal is said to have been to interrupt arms deliveries to Ukraine, most of which went through Poland.
The case is also politically sensitive for Warsaw, writes the Washington Post, because among those arrested were twelve Ukrainian refugees in addition to Russians and Belarusians. The officials emphasized that although most of them come from eastern Ukraine, they were apparently motivated more by the money offered than by a pro-Russian attitude.
