Stanisław Żaryn made the statement in a radio interview on Wednesday, the polskieradio24.pl website reported.
Żaryn, who is the number two official to Poland’s minister for the security services, told private broadcaster RMF FM: “We were dealing with a group that was preparing acts of subversion, preparing to physically destabilise transport routes.”
He added: “And so there could be no doubt that this group had to be neutralised and put under arrest ... This case was too important to be only monitored.”
'Russia will keep looking for ways to destabilise Polish assistance to Ukraine'
Żaryn said the investigation into the Russian spy network would continue.
“We need to be certain that everyone connected with the ring will be identified and held accountable,” he added.
Żaryn also said that the spy ring “was monitoring everything related to assistance to Ukraine” and warned that “Russia will keep looking for ways to destabilise Polish assistance to Ukraine.”
‘China seeks to benefit from Ukraine war and weaken the West’
Asked his opinion about the activity of Chinese intelligence agencies, Żaryn replied: “China is being highly expansionist. Obviously, money and investment are still the main Chinese asset, but it is clear to see that the Chinese security services are also often hidden behind this money.”
He added: “And in this respect, we’re definitely seeing a heightened activity of the Chinese state.”
Żaryn also said that “China is seeking to benefit from Russia’s war on Ukraine.”
He told RMF FM: “On the one hand, they are trying to firmly vassalise Russia, but they are also looking for opportunities to weaken the West, to infiltrate and infect it, mainly through money and investment.”
Poland busts Russian spy ring
Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński told reporters on Thursday that the country's Internal Security Agency (ABW) "in recent days detained nine people suspected of collaborating with the Russian secret services."
He said the suspects "conducted intelligence activities against Poland and prepared acts of sabotage at the request of Russian intelligence."
Kamiński added that the suspects were foreigners from countries to the east of Poland.
Kamiński also said that, according to the evidence gathered, the group had been monitoring rail routes to Ukraine, including collecting information about weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
Kamiński told the media: “The suspects were also preparing acts of subversion, designed to sabotage the supply of equipment, weapons and assistance to Ukraine.”
The interior minister also revealed that ABW officers "secured cameras, electronic equipment, as well as GPS transmitters that were to be mounted on transports with help for Ukraine."
In addition, the group had been ordered by their handlers to conduct “propaganda activities to destabilise relations between Poland and Ukraine,” and they had been paid for their work, Kamiński told reporters.
Wednesday is day 392 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: polskieradio24.pl, InfoSecurity24