Poland expels 45 Russian diplomats for ‘spying’: Interior minister

By Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Poland on Wednesday expelled 45 Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying, the country's interior minister said.

“Poland expelled 45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced on Twitter.

“With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret services in our country," he added.

Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s special services, earlier announced in a statement that the head of the Internal Security Agency has shared with the Foreign Ministry a list of 45 identified individuals, which it called them Russian special services officers and their associates, who were "enjoying a diplomatic status in Poland."

"As found by the Agency, the activities of those listed in the motion for expulsion serves the objectives of the Russian undertakings designed to undermine the stability of Poland and its allies in the international arena and poses a threat to the interests and security of our country," the statement said, requesting the country's Foreign Ministry to take "decisions resulting in the urgent expulsion from our country all the requested persons."

"One of individuals listed in the motion for expulsion is an officer of the Russian secret services whose activity has been unveiled during an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a Polish national on suspicion of spying on March 17, 2022," Zaryn said.

Poland, an EU and NATO member, shares a border of about 529 kilometers (around 330 miles) with Ukraine.