The detention

On Friday, 16 October, the Military Gendarmerie (Żandarmeria Wojskowa, ŻW) detained a participant in a reserve training course at the Military Medical Academy (Wojskowa Akademia Medyczna, WAM) in Łódź. Rzeczpospolita reported that the arrest was made on the order of the Łódź-Polesie District Prosecutor's Office, and that the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) ran the case. The paper said investigators unofficially suspect espionage, but no authority has publicly described the suspicions in detail. Adam Stępka, spokesman for the academy, confirmed that one course participant had been detained by the gendarmerie. The gendarmerie spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Dariusz Rozkosz, declined to give details and referred questions to prosecutors:

“At this moment the Military Gendarmerie is not providing any information on this matter. Please contact the prosecutor's office.”

Seized items and citizenship

According to Rzeczpospolita, officers seized several mobile phones, sets of documents, stamps, and a large amount of currency in different denominations and gold from the man. The paper reported that he holds dual Polish and Ukrainian citizenship. Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk confirmed the dual citizenship, according to TVP Info. The man had reportedly been of interest to the SKW before the arrest, Niezależna reported. Neither the gendarmerie nor the prosecutor has released details of the operation, what the seized items show, or any charges. It remains unclear whether the items are a key part of the evidence.

Custody and the academy

The man is in custody, and Rzeczpospolita reported that a court was due to decide on Monday, 19 October, whether to extend his custody. The Military Medical Academy is very new. The Ministry of National Defence established it on 1 July 2026, the government adopted the enabling law in April, and the first official start of the academic year took place on 2 October. The Łódź arrest happened at the academy, where the man was attending an officer course.

An earlier case

Rzeczpospolita noted that this is not the first recent case of its kind. In February, the Military Gendarmerie and the SKW detained a long-serving Ministry of National Defence employee and charged him under article 130, paragraph 2 of the penal code. That provision covers passing information to foreign intelligence that could harm the Republic of Poland and carries a minimum of eight years or life imprisonment. The paper reported that this employee was believed to have worked for Belarusian services.

What remains unknown

No source has said which foreign state or entity the man in Łódź may have worked for. Investigators have not publicly confirmed the charges or their legal basis. Niezależna noted that establishing whether a crime took place will fall to the bodies running the proceedings. Until the court rules on custody, the case rests on media reports and unofficial information.