The GRU recruits saboteurs among Ukrainian refugees in Poland and forces them to carry out special orders aimed at hindering the supply of Western equipment.
Source. This was reported by The Washington Post citing Ukrainian, American, and Polish intelligence officials.
The detention of members of such a 'spy network', whose members were recruited through ads in emigrant Telegram channels, became known in March. At the time, the Polish intelligence services did not report that most of the detainees were Ukrainians, fearing that russia would use this information.
Most of them were from the eastern regions of Ukraine, but they appeared to had been motivated more by money than ideology.
The work began with simple tasks such as posting leaflets or posters, as well as drawing graffiti with pro-russian and anti-Western content.
After successful completion of these tasks, recruits were offered more complex tasks, such as installing surveillance cameras at the point where trains with NATO equipment pass through.
Eventually, these people were supposed to be used as saboteurs to install 'some devices' that would derail trains.
At the same time, they were supposed to be paid a rather modest amount, not exceeding a few hundred dollars, for performing these tasks. Some of those recruited claim that their actions were relatively harmless and that they needed money.
It is known that 16 people have been detained, of whom 12 are Ukrainians, three are belarusians, and one is russian.
Background. As a reminder, on 14 August, two russians were detained in Poland on suspicion of espionage for distributing propaganda materials of the Wagner PMC. They were posting stickers with a call in English to join the Wagner PMC and a QR code leading to the PMC's website. Later, the same stickers were reported to have appeared in Warsaw.