Polish official says Russia pays European subversives with cryptocurrencies

Open Editor’s Digest for free

Rula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Russia has used cryptocurrencies to pay saboteurs involved in its hybrid attacks on European Union countries, in an attempt to prevent intelligence services from tracking payments, according to a senior Polish security official.

The head of Poland’s National Security Office, Sławomir Sienkiewicz, told the Financial Times that Moscow may be using this payment method to finance attacks, which have recently ranged from… Drone incursions For sabotage and attempts Water supply penetration and other critical infrastructure. He also said that evidence shared with Western intelligence services showed that Russia was using its shadow fleet to launch drones into European airspace.

Last month, at least 19 Russian drones violated Polish airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to shoot down some of them in the first direct confrontation between the alliance and Kremlin assets since Moscow’s decision. Large-scale invasion of Ukraine In 2022. Drones have also recently forced the closure of airports in Denmark, Germany and elsewhere, where NATO has been in talks about allowing more flights. Strong response Because of Kremlin provocations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using its shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea to launch drones at European countries. Sienkiewicz said similar evidence had been shared between intelligence services in Poland, Denmark, Germany and Norway.

He added: “They confirm that the shadow fleet of very old Russian oil tankers used for oil smuggling are being used by Russia for reconnaissance (with drones).”

He said a network of agents recruited by Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency and uncovered in Poland in 2023 was “largely financed in cryptocurrency,” a payment method Warsaw believes Moscow continues to use to this day.

Lawmakers in Poland’s lower house of parliament last month approved a bill to tighten regulation of the crypto-asset market, including prison penalties for those who do not adhere to censorship rules. Sinkevich said the bill should also be seen as a tool to limit Russian financing channels.

“Polish intelligence services are very interested in this entire legislative process, to ensure that there are no loopholes that would allow foreign powers to use (encryption) to finance their clients,” he said.

The Kremlin has Encryption codes have been used successfullyexchanges and networks to circumvent Western sanctions and maintain their financial flows after Russian lenders were cut off from the US-led SWIFT payment system in the wake of Moscow’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Over the past three years, Poland has accused dozens of individuals of espionage or sabotage and accused Russia of organizing arson attacks and other incidents, including a recent hacker attempt to cut off the water supply to a major Polish city.

“When we look at the cyber domain, Poland is now at war (with Russia), and it is not a threat situation anymore,” Sienkiewicz said.

A Russian couple was charged Monday with espionage after being detained in Poland last year for allegedly informing Russian intelligence about Kremlin opponents.

Polish prosecutors also opened an investigation into a Ukrainian national suspected of working for Russian military intelligence and smuggling explosives into Poland from Lithuania, hidden in food cans labeled as corn. Sienkiewicz said it “may have been a planned terrorist operation,” as the cans could have been mounted on drones and dropped as bombs.

This month, Polish prosecutors launched a separate investigation after a coal wagon was found separated from its train on a busy line in Katowice. Sinkevich described the incident as “another element in the playbook of Russian diversion activities.”

Over the past year, Warsaw has closed two Russian consulates and expelled several Russian and Belarusian diplomats accused of aiding subversive plots.

These diplomats are only the “first layer” of infiltration, Sienkiewicz said, as Moscow increasingly relies on “dedicated” local agents to carry out specific missions. He added that these operatives can receive small sums of money and pose a “low risk for recruitment.”

Last week, Warsaw handed over to Kiev a 16-year-old Ukrainian youth accused of helping Russian intelligence services recruit other Ukrainian youth to carry out attacks. While the vast majority of Ukrainians who arrived in Poland after 2022 were “legitimate refugees,” Sienkiewicz said: “There is no doubt that Russians have some origins among these people.”

Sienkiewicz is one of the most important appointees of right-wing President Karol Nawrocki, who has received support from the MAGA movement and is at odds with the government of pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Sienkiewicz faces a criminal investigation on charges of leaking secrets to undermine Tusk’s bid for the prime ministership. He denies any wrongdoing and says his legal battle and internal political tensions do not undermine national security.

As a “European politician,” Tusk believes “that alongside NATO, the European Union could in the future have its own military alliance, in which case NATO would play an auxiliary role…or even cease to exist later,” Sienkiewicz said. “We think differently: we are Atlanticists, we are pro-American, and we believe that the only military alliance useful to Poland is NATO.”