A Ukrainian man has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a Polish court for preparing to carry out acts of sabotage on behalf of Russia.

The 51-year-old, who can only be identified as Serhiy S. under Polish privacy law, was detained by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) in January 2024 on suspicion of working for the Russian security services.

He was accused of planning arson attacks on various buildings in Wrocław, Poland’s third-largest city, including a paint factory in close proximity to a fuel warehouse belonging to state oil giant Orlen.

In a ruling today – which can still be appealed – Serhiy S. was convicted of participating in an international organised criminal group and planning sabotage activities in Poland on behalf of foreign intelligence services.

Among the evidence against him were camera recordings and mobile phone records that showed him in close proximity to the paint plant, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

The suspect himself – who fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and had previously stayed in Germany – had acknowledged accepting an order received online to set fire to the building. But he claimed he had no intention to actually do it, instead aiming to defraud money from the person offering it.

The judge, Marcin Myczkowski, rejected Serhiy S.’s not-guilty plea, however. In handing down the sentence, Myczkowski noted that, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland and other European countries have faced a wave of actions aimed at destabilising them, including acts of sabotage.

“The idea was to convince the public that it was not worth supporting Ukraine, to create the impression that the authorities of Western countries were not coping,” said Myczkowski, quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Serhiy S. was among those who had been “instructed and directed” to carry out such actions, said the judge. He expressed hope that the eight-year prison sentence would “signal to the accused and people like him that it is not worth it and that the Polish state is acting”.

Both Myczkowski and one of the prosecutors in the case, Marcin Kucharski, noted that Serhiy S. is an example of a new kind of agent used by foreign services.

“Instead of expensive, highly qualified agents trained for a long time, we are dealing with people who are ready to do anything for four thousand dollars,” said Kucharski, quoted by PAP.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland has arrested a number of people accused of spying for or carrying out sabotage on behalf of Russia and Belarus. It has also accused Moscow and Minsk of orchestrating a migration crisis on Poland’s border and of carrying out cyberattacks.

In December 2023, 14 members of a Russian spy network who planned to derail a Ukraine aid train were sentenced in Poland to between one and six years in prison.

Poland has also suggested that it is likely Russia was behind a wave of sabotage cases last year, including a fire that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre. In October, four people were detained in Poland on suspicion of involvement in sending hidden incendiaries via parcel delivery services.

Last week, two Russian men were sentenced to five and a half years in prison for place restriction posters for Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group in Polish cities.