Suspect in Polish rail sabotage likely works for GRU - Ukrainian media
One of the two Ukrainian citizens suspected of recent acts of sabotage targeting a Polish railway line probably works for the Russian military intelligence (GRU), the Lviv-based portal Zaxid.net has reported.
The portal has found out that one of the two suspects, Yevhenii Ivanov, is a Ukrainian citizen born in Estonia who has been living in Russia in recent years. In early 2024, Yuri Sizov, an employee of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, allegedly recruited him to carry out an act of sabotage at a Ukrainian drone manufacturing facility.
In May, a court in Lviv convicted, in absentia, both Ivanov and Sizov for preparing the attack and sentenced them to a 15-year imprisonment. According to court case files, Sizov also planned and directed preparations for terrorist attacks in Kyiv, targeting shopping malls and cafes.
On Wednesday, Polish prosecutors filed charges, in absentia, against Ivanov and the other suspect, identified only as Oleksandr K., for the attacks on a Polish railway line.
The charges followed two incidents which occurred over the weekend along the railway line connecting Warsaw with the Dorohusk station on the border with Ukraine. An explosive device damaged the tracks in one attack and, in another, damaged infrastructure forced a train carrying 475 passengers to make an abrupt emergency stop.
Przemyslaw Nowak, spokesman for the National Prosecutor's Office, said at the time that the charges included "committing acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature on behalf of the intelligence services of the Russian Federation against the Republic of Poland... creating a threat of a catastrophe in land traffic and using explosives - crimes punishable by life imprisonment."
On Thursday morning, Maciej Wewior, spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), told PAP that Poland had requested the extradition of the two Ukrainians suspected of rail sabotage who had fled to Belarus.
He added that the relevant diplomatic note had been delivered to the Belarusian charge d’affaires, who was summoned to the MFA on Wednesday. (PAP)
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