Poland detains Polish-Ukrainian dual national suspected of spying

​Polish military police said on Monday ​they had detained a Polish-Ukrainian ‌dual ​national suspected of spying who was attending an officer training course for reservists in the central city of Lodz.

"On October ‌16, 2026, soldiers from the Military Police Unit... detained a 31-year-old man of Polish and Ukrainian citizenship, holding the rank of senior private of the reserve, who participated in one ‌of the courses taking place at the Military Medical Academy," the military police wrote ‌on X. The military police confirmed the man was suspected of spying and added that on Monday they had issued a temporary arrest for a period of three months against him.

It was not clear ⁠who the ​man is suspected ⁠of spying for, but Poland has repeatedly accused Russia of conducting espionage and influence operations on its territory, ⁠also using foreign nationals. Moscow has denied such actions. "This individual obtained Polish citizenship some time ​ago, which is why all the relevant services acted exactly as they should have," ⁠Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk told reporters.

A spokesperson for the Military Medical Academy in Lodz confirmed the man was ⁠detained ​on Friday but declined to give further details. Daily Rzeczpospolita reported that the suspect was attending an officer training course for reservists at the academy and that during ⁠the arrest the authorities found several mobile phones, sets of documents, official stamps and a ⁠large quantity of cash ⁠and gold in the man's possession.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm those details with prosecutors. It was not immediately clear ‌who is ‌serving as the suspect's lawyer.