Polish man charged in connection with alleged Russian plot to kill Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky

A Polish man has reportedly been charged over claims he assisted an alleged Russian plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Polish prosecutors said the man, named as Pawel K, was allegedly tasked with collecting information about an airport in Poland used by Ukraine’s president.

The arrest was made on the basis of Ukrainian intelligence, they added.

Authorities did not specify whether the man actually passed any information on.

He could face up to eight years in prison if found guilty. The suspect is in custody and the investigation is ongoing.

In a statement, Polish prosecutors alleged Pawel K had offered his services to Russian military intelligence. He contacted Russians “directly involved in the war in Ukraine,” they added.

They said Pawel K had been tasked with collecting information about security at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in south-east Poland.

Ukrainian authorities said they uncovered the plot and handed key evidence to Polish officials, who then detained the accused on Polish territory.

Polish prosecutors said the man had contacted Russians “directly involved in the war in Ukraine,” though it was not clear from official statements whether he had handed over any information, or even collected it.

It is not the first time Ukraine has claimed to have foiled an attempt to kill President Zelensky. He has faced several known attempts on his life since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In August 2023, the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, arrested a woman who had been allegedly “gathering intelligence” about a planned visit by the president to the southern region of Mykolaiv, in order to help plan a Russian airstrike.

News of the Polish arrest came just hours after German police said they had arrested two suspected Russian agents in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth.

The two individuals, identified as German-Russian nationals, are accused of plotting sabotage attacks and planning an explosive detonation, according to a statement by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe.