Russia claims to have arrested Polish spies; Warsaw calls it Independence Day provocation
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on November 11 that it had arrested two suspected agents of Polish intelligence services in the Kaliningrad region, a claim dismissed by Warsaw as a provocation and disinformation timed to Poland's Independence Day, Reuters reports.
According to Russia's Interfax news agency, the FSB accused the two detainees of collecting information about Russian military personnel and facilities, as well as economic conditions and migration policies in the region.
The agency claimed the suspects worked for Poland's military intelligence service and Internal Security Agency. Russian authorities said they had opened espionage cases against the two and that a court had ordered them held in custody.
The FSB also said it had issued official warnings to seven Polish citizens and three Russian nationals over alleged contacts with Polish security services.
Poland rejected the Russian account.
"As a spokesperson for the minister coordinating special services, I do not comment on materials posted online by Russian intelligence services," Jacek Dobrzyński wrote on X.
"On National Independence Day, I regard them in particular as yet another provocation and an act of disinformation."
Poland celebrates its Independence Day on November 11, commemorating the restoration of its sovereignty in 1918.
The Russian allegations have not been independently verified. The FSB did not establish in its public account that the two detainees were Polish citizens.
Kaliningrad is a heavily militarized Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, bordered by Poland and Lithuania, both members of NATO and the European Union.
The announcement comes amid heightened security concerns along Poland's border with the Russian territory.
According to Polish broadcaster RMF24, additional police units have been deployed near the border following warnings from Polish intelligence agencies about possible acts of sabotage or incursions by armed groups.
The additional deployment was already in place and has not been linked by Polish authorities to the arrests announced by Russia.