WARSAW, Oct 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Fifty-five people suspected of acting on behalf of Moscow have been detained in Poland since the start of Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a Polish special services spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

"These people who acted to the detriment of Poland have all been charged under Article 130 of the penal code, which pertains to espionage and sabotage," said Jacek Dobrzynski.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier on Tuesday wrote on X that eight people have been detained across the country in recent days on suspicion of "preparing acts of sabotage".

Dobrzynski said three Ukrainian nationals were among the eight who allegedly "created a sort of network to transport explosives across Poland and Romania to Ukraine".

"A 21-year-old Ukrainian was arrested here in Poland near Warsaw. His two accomplices who went to Romania were arrested by the Romanian secret service in Bucharest," he added.

Polish prosecutors said in a statement on Tuesday that the trio attempted under orders from Moscow to prepare and deliver to Ukraine "packages containing incendiary devices and chemical substances capable of causing a fire or an explosion".

"These packages, which were supposed to catch fire or explode during transportation... were intercepted by the Romanian authorities," the statement added, calling it a deliberate attempt to "intimidate the population" and "destabilise" European countries supporting Ukraine.

Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has accused Moscow of being behind several acts and attempted acts of sabotage, including a number of fires across the country and in Warsaw.
Russia has repeatedly rejected the claims.

In response, Poland has imposed travel restrictions on Russian diplomats in the country and ordered the closure of two Russian consulates, in the western city of Poznan and Krakow, in the south.

Poland -- a NATO and European Union member through which Western arms and munitions are transported to Ukraine -- borders Ukraine, as well as Russian ally Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.