PoliticsJune 29, 2026 5:45 pm • 1 min readClimbing plants cover part of the former Royal Kitchens at Wawel Royal Castle, with the Senator Tower and a Polish flag visible above in Krakow, Poland, on May 21, 2026. (Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Poland detained nine Ukrainian citizens and two Belarusians suspected of recruiting Ukrainians for paid protests carried out under Russian instructions, Polish officials reported on June 29. Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) and Border Guard identified and detained the suspects in several cities, including Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Zakopane and Bydgoszcz.Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland's minister overseeing intelligence agencies, said that since autumn 2025, the group paid Ukrainian refugees in Poland to take part in pro-Russian demonstrations to influence Ukrainian migrants, with funding allegedly coming from Russia.According to the minister's spokesperson, Jacek Dobrzynski, the detainees have already been expelled from Poland.Russian intelligence services frequently recruit Ukrainian nationals for covert operations in Europe.Last year, Polish authorities reported several cases involving Ukrainians who were detained on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence services or planning acts of sabotage, accusing Moscow of orchestrating such operations.