Poland arrests Russian recruited to kill Ukrainian-American arms entrepreneur in Warsaw

The arrest

Polish authorities detained a 29-year-old Russian citizen from Donbas on 7 August on Wołoska street in Warsaw's Mokotowie district, thwarting a planned assassination. Officers from the Capital Police's Terrorism and Homicide Division worked alongside the Internal Security Agency (ABW), with police counterterrorism units deployed for the operation. Officers had planned to enter the suspect's apartment, but he left the building and was arrested on the street. The suspect was charged with preparation of murder, and on 9 August a court granted the prosecutor's request for three months of pre-trial detention. He is currently held at the Białołęka detention facility in Warsaw. Investigators are treating the case as a politically motivated contract killing ordered by Russian intelligence.

The target

According to unofficial findings reported by RMF FM, the intended victim was an entrepreneur in the arms industry who supplies equipment to the Ukrainian military and holds both US and Ukrainian citizenship. Tusk described the target as a citizen who was "inconvenient" to the Putin regime but did not disclose the person's identity. Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister overseeing Poland's intelligence services, specified on social media platform X that the target was a US citizen "of Ukrainian origin". The US State Department said it was aware of the reports but had no additional information. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Moscow has regularly dismissed accusations by European powers of attacks, saying the West is stoking anti-Russian paranoia.

Tusk's announcement

At a news conference on 13 August, Tusk revealed the operation and stressed its international significance. He said it was the first known instance of someone acting on Russian orders targeting a US citizen on the territory of another NATO country.

Thanks to the truly brilliant action of our services... we detained a Russian citizen recruited by Russian intelligence services.

Tusk added that the operation was conducted in cooperation with American services, for which he expressed gratitude. He warned that further Russian operations should be expected.

We must assume that the Putin regime will try to eliminate people who are inconvenient for various reasons, in various places around the world.

Broader pattern of Russian operations

The thwarted plot follows the killing of Russian opposition artist Semen Skrepetsky (real name Robert Kuzovkov) on 15 June in Biała Podlaska, a town in eastern Poland near the Belarus border. Skrepetsky, who had left Russia for Poland in 2021, was known for satirical actions criticising Putin, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. On 18 June, Tusk announced the detention of a suspect in the killing, a man carrying a Georgian passport. According to naTemat.pl, ABW had previously detained a total of 55 people acting on Russia's orders in earlier operations. Poland's role as a hub for military supplies to neighbouring Ukraine has made it a target for Russian espionage and sabotage, with the AP mapping approximately 200 acts of sabotage, arson and other disruption across Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine that officials have linked to Russia.