Poland’s Internal Security Agency has documented a growing wave of Russian-directed sabotage recruitment across EU countries, with radicalised youth, criminal networks, and foreign nationals increasingly used as low-cost operatives.
Russia is intensifying hybrid operations across European Union countries by recruiting disposable agents online, according to the head of Poland’s Internal Security Agency, Rafał Syrysko. The warning was relayed by Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defence Council, as reported by UATV.
Syrysko described a recruitment model built around what he called “cheap agents” tasked with arson attacks, surveillance, intelligence gathering, and other acts of sabotage. Poland has already recorded a growing number of such incidents on its territory. According to the Polish assessment, those recruited include radicalised young people, members of criminal circles, and foreign nationals. Crucially, some operatives may not be aware they are working in the interests of Russian intelligence at all.
The Kremlin favours this approach for three reasons: it is simple to execute; inexpensive to run; and keeps direct links to Russian intelligence services difficult to establish. At the same time, Polish officials note that Moscow is moving beyond purely opportunistic recruitment toward building more structured sabotage networks involving trained operatives.
Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation framed the broader strategic purpose: by escalating hybrid warfare against the West, Russia aims to destabilise Europe, erode public trust in state institutions, and chip away at political support for Ukraine.
