Poland detained a Russian citizen on August 7, 2026, alleged to have been recruited by Russian intelligence to assassinate a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the target was seen as "inconvenient to the Putin regime," and the assassination attempt was stopped just in time by Polish security forces [1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 6, 7]. Tusk praised the "truly brilliant action" of Polish intelligence, the Internal Security Agency, and police, adding, "At the last minute, thanks to the action of the Internal Security Agency and the police, we managed to prevent this execution, this attack" [1].
Tusk further said this is the first known case of Russian state actors ordering an attempt on a U.S. citizen on the soil of another NATO member state [2]. Deputy Prime Minister Tomasz Siemoniak credited cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies in foiling the plot, saying, "The operation was carried out in cooperation with US services" [2].
Poland interprets the assassination attempt as part of a broader pattern of Russian hybrid warfare, espionage, and sabotage since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Authorities cite approximately 200 sabotage and disruptive acts attributed to Russia across Europe since then [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 5, 6, 7]. Moscow denies involvement in such attacks, labeling accusations as paranoia [1, 3, 6].
In June 2026, an artist and Russian dissident critical of President Vladimir Putin was shot and killed in eastern Poland, an incident suspected to be a political assassination linked to Russia [1, 4, 5, 6, 7].
Following the August 7 arrest, Polish authorities ordered three months of detention for the suspect [2]. On August 13, Prime Minister Tusk publicly announced the thwarted assassination plot, reiterating concerns about Russia targeting inconvenient individuals abroad [1, 2, 4, 5, 7].
