Pro-Russian Activists Investigated for Military Recruitment in Poland
12 January, 2024 Officers of the Polish ABW special service. Illustrative photo The Polish Internal Security Agency conducted searches of representatives of the association of anti-vaccinators, which recruited the Polish military.
This was reported by the Polish media Kresy. The Internal Security Agency launched an investigation into the pro-Russian association "Bronimi Munduru dla przysz?ych pokole?" ("Let's protect the form for future generations"), within which it conducted searches in the apartments of its representatives. The decision to conduct searches on December 4, 2023, was made by the military affairs department of the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.
The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Security Administration and was launched by the report of the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service. The suspects are facing charges related to various serious offenses, including plotting a coup d'?tat, encouraging soldiers in the Polish Army to defy official duties, involvement in foreign intelligence activities, promoting the use of illegal threats to coerce the command of the Polish Armed Forces, and incitement to commit violence, including the intent to kill a one of the high-ranking generals. During the searches, ABW operatives seized computers, phones, and data storage devices.
In one of the apartments, they also found "amateur" radio equipment, due to which the pro-Russian activists used to contact immigrants from Russia and Belarus.
Illustrative photo of a soldier of the Internal Security Agency of Poland, photo of 2021. Photo credits: Government of Poland
Military recruitment and coup d'?tat
Members of the association provided legal and social assistance to the Polish military who refused to be vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus, according to investigators, the organization seems to have recruited the military and conducted ideological training with them. The prosecution against the members of the association is based on the assertion that in 2021, the organization was actively preparing with the objective "to deprive independence, separate a part of the territory, or alter the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland through coordinated actions by individuals." This information is derived from the ongoing investigation's unresolved materials. In addition, in the same year, members of the association allegedly participated in "foreign intelligence activities against the Republic of Poland."
The Internal Security Agency and Polish prosecutors are actively investigating social media posts dating back to March 2022 that purportedly incited the military to disobey orders. These posts are believed to have been disseminated by an individual identified as an "established officer." Other activities within the investigation include: "incitement to use illegal threats to force the leadership of the Polish Armed Forces to refrain from performing official duties" and "incitement to murder" of General Grzegorz Gerlach.
Recall that in August 2023, the Polish Internal Security Agency detained sixteen people associated with Russian intelligence, who were engaged in destabilizing the political situation, collected data on the movement of military assistance through Poland, and prepared sabotages to disrupt supplies.