WARSAW – Polish prosecutors have charged two men in a case involving cooperation with Belarusian intelligence services, they said on Tuesday, one of a series of espionage cases in the NATO member state.

Warsaw says its role as a supply hub to Ukraine has made it a target for spies working for Russia and its ally Belarus, as well as acts of sabotage. Minsk and Moscow have rejected accusations that they are behind acts of sabotage.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in the southern Polish city of Lublin said in a statement that an indictment had been brought against a 53-year-old Belarusian citizen named Nikolay M. due to privacy laws, as well as against a citizen Polish, 59 years old. named as Bernard S.

In a separate statement, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) said it had detained the men in March 2023.

Nikolay M. has been tasked with conducting reconnaissance of a military airport in Biala Podlaska in eastern Poland, as well as collecting information on railway infrastructure, the movement of military equipment and the activities of Polish special services.

Bernard S. was tasked with helping the Belarusian by providing him with a place of residence and organizing his stay in Poland.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

The Belarusian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS