WARSAW – A man suspected of aiding a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been arrested in Poland, Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors said on April 18.

The Polish national, named only as Pawel K, is suspected of supplying information to Russian military intelligence and “helping the Russian special forces to plan a possible assassination attempt” against Mr Zelensky, a statement from Polish prosecutors said.

It said the suspect stated that he was “ready to act on behalf of the military intelligence services of the Russian Federation and established contact with Russian citizens directly involved in the war in Ukraine”.

Ukrainian prosecutors had informed Poland about the activities, which enabled them to gather “essential evidence” against the suspect, the statement added.

Ukrainian chief prosecutor Andriy Kostin said the suspect had been tasked with “gathering and transmitting to the aggressor state information about security at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport” in south-eastern Poland.

Mr Zelensky frequently passes through the airport on his trips abroad. It is also used by foreign officials and aid convoys heading to Ukraine.

The suspect is in detention pending judicial procedures, the two countries’ prosecutors said.

Mr Kostin wrote on social media platform X: “This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but also to the entire free world.

“The Kremlin’s criminal regime... organises and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states.”

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski commended the work of his country’s special services and prosecutors in the operation, as well as cooperation with neighbouring Ukraine.

Warsaw has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest backers since the Russian invasion in February 2022, although ties have frayed recently in a dispute over agricultural imports. AFP