Poland says it foiled Russian plot to kill Ukrainian American in Warsaw

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that national security services intercepted a Russian-directed plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw before it could be carried out. Tusk described it as the first known instance of an attack ordered by Russia targeting a US citizen on the soil of another Nato member state.

The suspect, said to have been recruited by Russian intelligence services, was detained by Polish authorities on 7 August. Warsaw police confirmed he will remain in custody for three months. At a news conference, Tusk said the intended victim had been "uncomfortable" for the Putin regime, without offering further detail.

Tomasz Siemoniak, the Polish minister responsible for overseeing intelligence services, said the operation was carried out jointly with US services and confirmed the target was a US citizen of Ukrainian origin. No further specifics were released. Russia's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment, while the US State Department said it was aware of the reports but had no additional information to share.

Wider pattern

Tusk said governments must assume the Putin regime will keep trying to eliminate people it finds inconvenient in various locations worldwide, and that Poland and its allies need to be ready to counter such efforts.

Western officials have previously warned that Russia intensified a campaign of targeted killings following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with several plots already disrupted across Europe, including in France, Lithuania and Germany. In 2024 Polish authorities arrested a man suspected of plotting to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In June this year, a Russian artist known for criticising Putin was shot dead in Poland, an incident Tusk at the time described as bearing the hallmarks of a political assassination.