Ukrainian in Poland faces life imprisonment for working for russian intelligence services and provocations with inscriptions about UPA
An 18-year-old Ukrainian in Poland was accused of collaborating with russian intelligence services and committing 47 crimes. According to the investigation, he wrote inscriptions praising the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) and Stepan Bandera on buildings and memorials to provoke conflict between Poles and Ukrainians.
This is reported by Reuters.
The Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) detained 18-year-old Ilia K. Investigators claim that from November 2024 to August 2025 he carried out tasks for russian special services.
Why the Ukrainian faces life imprisonment
According to the investigation, Ilia K. was charged with 47 crimes. This is not only about applying provocative inscriptions to buildings and memorial sites.
Among the incriminated crimes are also:
- desecration of memorial sites;
- preparation of sabotage using a drone.
The Polish Internal Security Agency stated that the suspect's actions were aimed at inciting interethnic hostility between Poland and Ukraine and worsening relations between the two states.
It is precisely because of the totality of the incriminated crimes, in particular, preparation of sabotage and activity in the interests of russian special services, that the Ukrainian faces a sentence from 10 years in prison to life imprisonment.
Recall that on the eve, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted the elite Independent Center for Special Operations "North" the name "Heroes of the UPA" - "in order to restore the historical traditions of the national army".
What is known about the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland
This decision caused a sharp reaction from Warsaw. In particular, the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki proposed to deprive the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country's highest award - the Order of the White Eagle - in response to the decision to name one of the Ukrainian units after the name "Heroes of the UPA".
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized the decision of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to assign the name "Heroes of the UPA" to one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, it violates historical sensitivity, and Ukraine should realize what the "legacy of the UPA" means for Poles.
Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa said that he would no longer support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and publicly removed the Ukrainian flag from his chest because of the decision to name one of the Ukrainian units after the "Heroes of the UPA."