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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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A Polish spy network operating in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave has been thwarted following the arrest of two agents working for Warsaw, according to Moscow.
"The Federal Security Service has identified and localized the agent network of the special services of the Republic of Poland, operating in the Kaliningrad region," the FSB said in a statement run by state news agency TASS.
Newsweek has contacted the Polish Foreign Ministry for comment and is awaiting a response.
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The claims by Russia's main intelligence service come amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Warsaw, which is a key backer of Ukraine.
These have been demonstrated by drone incursions into Poland, sabotage attacks linked to Russia, as well as Polish police units deployed to its border with Kaliningrad this month due to the threat of armed incursion by Moscow.
This month, Polish authorities arrested eight people suspected of spying for Moscow.
Maksym Beznosiuk, an analyst with Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), told Newsweek there is a broader pattern of intensified Russian hybrid operations against NATO’s eastern flank, particularly Poland.
"Moscow aims to force the Polish government to dedicate extra effort to maintaining higher readiness," he said.
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What Did Russia Say About Kaliningrad Arrests?
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave, which is geographically separated from the main territory of the country.
Its location on the Baltic Sea between NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania makes it a likely flash point for any future clashes between Moscow and the alliance.
The FSB said Wednesday that Russia stopped a Polish special services network in the Russian region.
Two agents were arrested and accused of collecting and sending information about Russian military personnel and facilities.
They were also accused of sharing information about Kaliningrad's economy, migration and regional policy, and espionage charges have been laid.
Also, seven Polish citizens and three Russians were found to be in contact with Polish special services. However, the FSB statement suggested no charges would be brought and they were simply warned about espionage and treason acts.
The Polish citizens have been "banned from entering our country for a long time," the statement added.
Separately, a 41-year-old American soldier was arrested near Gloucester, England, on Tuesday on suspicion of espionage related to Russia.
The soldier was assigned to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a British-led NATO corps based in Gloucester., a senior NATO official told CNN.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the arrest. He said Moscow has "no connection to this whatsoever, and it has no connection to us."
Who Has Poland Arrested?
The FSB arrests come a day after Polish security officers detained two Ukrainian citizens suspected of carrying out espionage and sabotage for Russian intelligence.
The suspects, aged 24 and 25, were arrested in Mińsk Mazowiecki, east of Warsaw. They are accused of photographing military installations and infrastructure across Poland, Polish intelligence services coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak announced.
The suspects are in pretrial detention and are also accused of setting vehicles on fire and potentially blaming Ukraine's military for the acts.
In other arrests, Polish police detained six people on November 5 suspected of spying for Russia and supplying its military.
Among the group, five were Poles between the ages of 25 and 52, and the other a 37-year-old Russian national, Siemoniak wrote on X.
Four suspects, including the Russian national, have been charged with espionage and placed in pretrial detention.
Poland's internal security agency (ABW) said the group supplied Russia with significant quantities of components for military use, mostly to make ammunition and weapons systems.
Beznosiuk from ACLED said that Moscow will continue to increasingly rely on disposable agents to conduct hybrid activities.
These range from surveillance of critical infrastructure assets to sabotage and arson attacks across Poland.
Beznosiuk added: "The overt or covert use of its military forces to instill fear, pull NATO resources, and provoke is not to be excluded."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Henry Holloway and James Debens
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