Poland Indicts Russian for Leading FSB Sabotage and Espionage Group

Poland has indicted a Russian citizen for leading a sabotage and espionage group that operated on its territory in 2023 on behalf of the FSB.
The announcement was made on the website of Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the investigation, the suspect is 28-year-old Mikhail Viktorovich Mirgorodsky, who led an organized criminal group.

“The suspect, Russian citizen Mikhail Mirgorodsky, organized the activities of Russian intelligence in Poland and led a criminal group that carried out espionage, sabotage, subversive, and propaganda activities on its behalf,” the prosecutor’s office reported.

The Russian is currently wanted, and an arrest warrant has been issued.

While in Russia, Mirgorodsky reportedly used the Telegram messenger to create and lead an organized criminal group of a terrorist nature, consisting of at least 30 people, from at least October 1, 2022, to June 2023.

The suspect is accused of organizing the following activities in Poland: surveillance of military equipment, installation of GPS transmitters and video recording devices near critical infrastructure, including airports, railway stations, military facilities, and a logistics terminal on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

He also organized sabotage and propaganda operations, including printing and distributing pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-NATO leaflets.

Mirgorodsky is further accused of acts of sabotage and diversion, including attacks on Ukrainian citizens and Belarusian dissidents and the arson of their property.

He faces five charges:

• Creating and leading an organized criminal group
• Organizing and directing the actions of foreign intelligence
• Directing actions aimed at causing disasters in ground traffic
• Inciting violence and property destruction
• Financing terrorist activities

In the summer of 2023, 16 people (12 Ukrainians, three Belarusians, and one Russian) were detained in Poland for working for Russian intelligence. All were later sentenced to six years in prison.

Investigations are ongoing into eight additional suspects: three Belarusians, two Russians (including Mirgorodsky), and one each from Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania. Four of them are accused of participating in an organized criminal group. Most have not yet been charged, as they remain outside Poland.