Ukrainians arrested in Warsaw after being caught with equipment that could endanger data “of particular importance for national defense”
Polish police, Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Three Ukrainian men have been remanded in custody and charged in Warsaw after hacking equipment and other devices were found in their car, according to an announcement made by Polish police on Monday, cited by Reuters.
The three were accused of possessing devices and programs adapted for “committing crimes, including for damaging computer data of particular importance for national defense,” the police said.
The statement does not provide details on the suspects' motives, but it is noted that the police are “considering various scenarios”.
The three Ukrainians “claimed to be IT specialists” and were traveling around Europe
Officers stopped the three Ukrainian men in central Warsaw, and the car they were traveling in was found to contain specialized hacking equipment, a spy device detector, hard drives and antennas that can be used to interfere with IT systems, Polish police said in a statement.
The men, aged 39, 42 and 43, told them they were on a trip through Europe and planned to go to Lithuania.
“Ukrainian citizens could not determine the purpose of the objects seized by the officers,” Polish police said. “They claimed to be IT specialists, and when asked more specific questions, they forgot their English and pretended not to understand what was being said,” police said.
The three are also accused of fraud and informed fraud.
A court placed them in preventive detention for a period of three months.
Poland accuses Moscow of a hybrid campaign
Authorities in Poland have been on alert because of what they described as a Moscow-backed campaign of sabotage and cyberattacks, which included a railway explosion in November that they blamed on Ukrainians working with Russian intelligence.
“Unfortunately, the worst fears have been confirmed. An act of sabotage took place on the Warsaw-Lublin route (the village of Mika). The explosion of a device destroyed the railway. The emergency services and the prosecutor's office are working on the scene. On the same route, closer to Lublin, further damage was identified,” declared Prime Minister Donald Tusk on November 17, after the explosion that had taken place on the railway connecting the capital Warsaw with the eastern region of border with Ukraine.
Russia dismisses such accusations as “Russophobia”.
