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Belarusian and Polish Citizens Charged With Violating Sanctions by Smuggling Equipment to Russia
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Six individuals—four from Belarus and two from Poland—have been charged with attempting to smuggle specialized equipment for integrated circuit production to Russia.
As reported by RMF on February 25, this equipment is used, among other things, in combat drones.
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According to the Internal Security Agency, four Belarusian citizens and one Polish national were detained on February 18. They attempted to transport specialized equipment for integrated circuit production through Belarus to Russia.
The prosecution has charged them with supporting Russia's aggression against Ukraine, specifically by attempting to violate the so-called "Sanctions Law," which prohibits the export of equipment with strategic importance for the military industry. Violating this law carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison.
One of the individuals, a Polish citizen, was also brought from the Łódź detention center for further procedures.
On February 20, the Łódź-City District Court chose to place three suspects under three months of detention. The remaining suspects were given other precautionary measures, including bail, police supervision, and a ban on leaving the country.
In a separate but related development, a long-serving official at Poland's Ministry of National Defense has been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Russian and Belarusian intelligence.
The arrest, which took place at the ministry’s headquarters on February 3, is currently being investigated by Poland's Military Counterintelligence Service in cooperation with the Military Police and the National Prosecutor’s Office.
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The detained individual, a 60-year-old man who had worked at the defense ministry since the 1990s, held various mid-level positions, including in the strategy and planning department. According to sources familiar with the investigation, the suspect maintained direct contact with individuals identified as operatives from “eastern intelligence services.”
Earlier, Polish officials reported that Russia launched a series of cyberattacks against the country’s energy infrastructure in late December 2025, almost causing a nationwide blackout.
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")