WARSAW - Polish prosecutors said on April 25 that a Russian historical re-enactment fan has been jailed for spying on its military for Moscow.

The Nato member and staunch backer of neighbouring Ukraine has become a target of pro-Kremlin espionage since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

The man, whose identity was not released, was detained a few weeks into the war and sentenced to 2½ years in prison last week, said prosecutors in Gdansk, northern Poland.

They said the man built up contact with Polish soldiers through historical re-enactment groups, “which he used for work on behalf of Russian intelligence”.

“He obtained and gathered information regarding Poland’s armed forces, including the deployment of individual military units,” the prosecutors added in a statement.

The Russian had been living in and running a business in Poland for many years.

In a separate case, Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors said last week they had detained a man in Poland suspected of planning an attack on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Also earlier in April, the Polish authorities arrested two men suspected of attacking a close ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Vilnius in March.

Leonid Volkov was repeatedly struck with a hammer outside his home in the Lithuanian capital on March 12. AFP