POLISH prosecutors have charged a Ukrainian man with sabotage and diversionary activities on behalf of Russian intelligence, alleging he was paid to desecrate memorials honouring Polish victims of Ukrainian massacres in World War II in an effort to inflame tensions between the two countries.

Warsaw has long accused Russia of conducting hybrid operations aimed at driving a wedge between Poland and Ukraine.

Poland has been one of Kiev’s strongest supporters since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but anti-Ukrainian sentiment has been growing in the country.

Relations reached a low point in late June, when Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s highest state honour over his decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a paramilitary organisation behind the massacring of Poles during WWII.

According to Polish authorities, the 18-year-old Ukrainian national allegedly committed 47 criminal offences between November 2024 and August 2025.

In addition to allegedly desecrating memorial sites, he was charged with preparing a sabotage attack involving a drone.

Prosecutors said the suspect had intended to fly the drone over the car carrying the Polish president during a military parade in Warsaw on August 15 2025. He was arrested before the parade.

Prosecutors said evidence suggested the suspect was recruited online and paid in cryptocurrency.

In late June, the Internal Security Agency said they uncovered a Russia-financed scheme to influence the Ukrainian refugee community in Poland in order to spark protests among them and fuel social tensions.