Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski on Wednesday said the EU member had „expelled 45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats,” AFP reported.
Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski made the announcement on Twitter.
„Poland has expelled 45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats,” he wrote. „We are dismantling the Russian special services network in our country.”
Russian ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreyev confirmed the expulsions, telling reporters that the individuals had been given five days to leave Poland.
„There are no grounds for these kinds of accusations,” he said. Russia reserved the right to take retaliatory measures, he added.
Bilateral diplomatic relations have not broken down. „The embassies remain, the ambassadors remain,” he said according to the Moscow Times.
Tensions have risen between Poland and Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine. Poland has taken in more than 2 million refugees who have fled the conflict in Ukraine, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
Earlier Wednesday, Poland’s counter-espionage service ABW had announced that it had detained a Polish national suspected of espionage for Russia’s secret services.
„The detainee worked in the archives of Warsaw’s registry office,” ABW spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn said on Twitter.
„The activity of the suspect posed a threat to both (the) internal and external security of Poland,” he added.
