Warsaw says Belarus, Russia step up intelligence activity

July 2, BPN. A Polish security official says Belarus and Russia are stepping up intelligence activities in his country, amid reports that 14 suspected Russian spies have been arrested.

Stanisław Żaryn, state secretary in the prime minister’s office, said on Twitter that intelligence gathering wasn’t the only type of harmful activity.

The hybrid operation that has resulted in pressure on the Polish border with Belarus continues, he said, in an apparent reference to the migrant crisis.

Another component of the “operation against Poland” is Russian propaganda, he said.

According to Żaryn, Russian aggression already affects the security of the entire NATO bloc.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 2021, when thousands of migrants set up a camp near the Polish frontier. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but have risen more recently.