The district court in Bialystok sentenced a Belarusian and a Russian to four years in prison. They were accused of espionage in favor of Russian military intelligence, the Belarusian edition of Polish radio reports.
The public trial lasted almost a year. The accused were given a period of detention and arrest as punishment.
Both men were detained in April 2022. They were accused of espionage activities in favor of Russia in 2017-2022. According to the prosecutor’s office, the defendants collected information about Polish military units, their location, equipment and personnel, as well as about Allied military units.
Both foreigners lived in Poland legally. The Belarusian first studied at one of the Bialystok universities, and then took up the organization of parachute training. The investigation concluded that this was how he established contacts, which he used for espionage. The Russian conducted espionage activities under the guise of cultural and tourist activities. According to the investigation, the spies were especially interested in the Polish units in the area of the Belarusian border in connection with the migration crisis.