On Thursday, August 20, 2026, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) announced that its officers had detained a Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw suspected of attempting to assassinate a representative of Ukraine’s defense industry. According to the evidence gathered, the man allegedly acted on behalf of Russian special services. Following the failed assassination attempt, he fled to Poland. ABW operations led to his detention and prevented him from escaping further.
Photo: ABW
On August 5, 2026, officers of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) detained 63-year-old Ukrainian citizen Serhii P. in Warsaw. The man is suspected of attempting to assassinate a representative of Ukraine’s defense industry in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast.
According to the findings of the investigation, Serhii P. placed an improvised explosive device under a car used by the intended victim. The device was to be detonated remotely using a mobile phone. The explosion did not occur because the mechanism failed to function.
Following the failed assassination attempt, the suspect fled to Poland. ABW officers established his whereabouts and detained him in Warsaw. In doing so, the Agency prevented the suspect from using Poland as a place of concealment and from fleeing further.
Based on evidence gathered by the ABW, on August 6, 2026, a prosecutor from the Mazovian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw charged Serhii P. with attempted murder using explosives possessed without authorization. On August 7, 2026, at the prosecutor’s request, the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw ordered that the suspect be held in pre-trial detention for three months.
The case shows that Russian special services conduct operations extending beyond the borders of a single state and use individuals moving between countries to carry them out. One of the key tasks of the ABW is to prevent Polish territory from being used for such activities.
The detention was the result of ongoing cooperation between the Internal Security Agency and its Ukrainian partner services.
The investigation is ongoing and may be expanded. It is being conducted by the Criminal Proceedings Department of the Internal Security Agency under the supervision of the Mazovian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw.
@ABW_GOV_PL zatrzymała podejrzanego o próbę zamachu na zlecenie rosyjskich służb❗️
Po nieudanej próbie zabójstwa przedstawiciela ukraińskiego przemysłu zbrojeniowego mężczyzna uciekł do Polski.@ABW_GOV_PL ustaliła miejsce jego pobytu i aresztowała go w Warszawie.
W Polsce 🇵🇱… pic.twitter.com/Xl59rEFbUl— ABW (@ABW_GOV_PL) August 20, 2026
See also:
- Poland: indictment filed in case of planned terrorist act
- Polish Internal Security Agency detains Belarusian and Polish citizens acting for foreign intelligence
- Polish Armaments Group employee detained on espionage charges
- Poland’s Internal Security Agency detains three people suspected of espionage
- Poland: Internal Security Agency Detains Territorial Defence Force Soldier on Suspicion of Espionage for Russia
- Poland: Five people charged with setting fire to shops on behalf of Russian intelligence
- Poland’s Internal Security Agency detains Polish citizens in connection with an arson attack on the territory of the Czech Republic
