In Poland, a 51-year-old Ukrainian is on trial for allegedly planning to set fire to a factory in Wrocław.

A trial has commenced in Poland against Ukrainian citizen Serhiy S., who is accused of preparing and organizing sabotage on behalf of the Russian intelligence service. The verdict for the accused is set to be delivered on February 21. This was reported by the radio station RMF24 and the newspaper Fakt on Friday, February 7.

During the investigation, 51-year-old Serhiy S. revealed that after the onset of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he illegally fled from Odesa to Moldova, after which he moved with his wife to Germany. In early 2022, while Serhiy was still living in Ukraine, he met a man with the nickname Lucky Strike in the messaging app Telegram. The interlocutor, who introduced himself as Oleksiy, repeatedly criticized the Ukrainian authorities in their correspondence.

After Serhiy S. relocated to Germany, Oleksiy reached out to him again. In January 2024, he proposed that Serhiy set fire to a paint factory in Wrocław. For this, the perpetrator was to receive $4,000 in two installments.

“Serhiy S. claimed that he did not intend to carry out the task and wanted to deceive the client, who first transferred an advance of $2,000 to his card,” the report states.

At the request of his interlocutor, Serhiy photographed the yard behind construction stores in Wrocław during his five-day stay in Poland.

The 51-year-old perpetrator was arrested by the Polish Internal Security Agency at the Wrocław bus station in January 2024.

In court, Serhiy asserted that the video with pyrotechnic instructions found on his phone was uploaded without his knowledge. Interestingly, the accused's phone was traced to the Kaliningrad region of Russia and the USA. The defendant claims he has never been there.

The prosecutor charged Serhiy S. with participation in an organized criminal group that was preparing sabotage for the benefit of a foreign state. At the end of May 2024, charges in this case were brought against three more individuals – a Polish citizen and two Belarusians. Serhiy S. was also accused of planning to set fire to various buildings in Wrocław.

In the fall of 2024, the prosecution filed a motion for Serhiy S. to be sentenced without a trial and reached an agreement with the accused that he would voluntarily accept a punishment of three years in prison. In October 2024, the Wrocław court rejected this request and decided that a full trial would be held against Serhiy S.

The prosecutor in this case requested a five-year prison sentence for the defendant. He explained that although this involves only the preparation for sabotage, this case demonstrates that the sabotage did not occur solely due to the actions of Polish intelligence services.

The defense argued that the accused did not intend to commit arson and was not an agent of a foreign intelligence service. The lawyer requested an acquittal for his client.