Pole charged in plot to kill Ukraine leader
WARSAW, Poland — A Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.
The office of Poland’s National Prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
The man was seeking contact with Russians directly involved in the war in Ukraine and was expected to pass on detailed information about the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in south-eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, which is the gateway for international military and humanitarian supplies for Ukraine. It also serves leaders and politicians traveling in and out of Ukraine. The airport is under the control of U.S. troops.
If convicted, the man could face up to eight years in prison, the statement said.
The prosecutors said the arrest is the result of close cooperation with the prosecutors and security services of Ukraine, who tipped them off and who provided crucial evidence. The case is developing, they said.
In Germany on Thursday, prosecutors said that two German-Russian men have been arrested on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including U.S. military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine.
The two, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested Wednesday in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, Germany’s federal prosecutors said.
ANTI-AIR
Russian air defenses downed what authorities described as five Ukrainian balloons overnight, the defense ministry in Moscow said Thursday, as the sides kept up long-range strikes that have featured heavily in what has largely become a war of attrition.
Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials have provided details about the secretive balloons, which Moscow authorities and media have reported on the battlefield in recent weeks. Ukraine’s military has been driving innovation since the war began in February 2022, notably adapting drones for wide use against the bigger Kremlin forces.
According to Russian news reports, the Ukrainian balloons are equipped with a GPS module and carry explosives. They reportedly are harder to detect and could carry a bigger payload than more common small drones. It is not clear if they are helium or hot air or another type of balloon.
The balloons aren’t able to maneuver in the air. The GPS module is likely used to coordinate the release of explosives if the balloon floats over a specific area, with the aim of sowing panic on the ground and distracting Russian air defense assets.