Poland says Russian secret service hired Colombian for arson attacks

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WARSAW (Reuters) -A Colombian national acting on behalf of Russian intelligence carried out two arson attacks in Poland last year, before setting fire to a bus depot in the Czech Republic, the Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on Tuesday.

ABW said the 27-year-old suspect set fire to two construction supply depots in Poland in May 2024 on orders from the Russians as part of a hybrid warfare campaign.

“He was trained by a person connected to Russian intelligence services … They taught him how to prepare incendiary materials, Molotov cocktails, and how to document these arson attacks,” Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesman for the coordinator of special services, told a press conference.

Photographs and video recordings were used by Russian-language media for disinformation and propaganda purposes, ABW said.

Russian media then falsely reported that one of the fires was at a logistics centre in the city of Radom used to store military equipment provided by Europe as aid for Ukraine, Dobrzynski said.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw, responding to a Reuters inquiry, said it does not comment on such unfounded accusations.

Dobrzyński said that following the arson attacks in Poland, the Colombian travelled to the Czech Republic, where he set fire to a bus depot. He was believed to be preparing another attack on a shopping mall when Czech authorities detained him.

“He was sentenced to eight years in prison for acts of terrorism he committed (in the Czech Republic). In Poland … he faces up to 10 years in prison or even a life sentence,” said Dobrzyński, adding that the man had partially admitted guilt.

Poland has been a target of sabotage, which officials say is part of a “hybrid war” waged by Moscow to destabilize countries that support Ukraine in the war with Russia, involving tactics like arson and cyberattacks.

Russia has in the past denied involvement in such attacks.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling and Pawel Florkiewicz; editing by Giles Elgood)