Poland Remains Priority Target For Belarusian Intelligence – ABW

Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has published the public part of its report on activities in 2024–2025.

It notes that in recent years there has been an increase in the activity of Russian intelligence services, as well as Belarusian services cooperating with them.

“Poland remains a priority operational target for Belarusian intelligence. In 2024–2025, the most important task of the Republic of Belarus’s special services was to protect the regime, therefore their activity focused on infiltration and disintegration of numerous Belarusian opposition groups operating in Poland”, the report said.

ABW highlights close cooperation between Russian and Belarusian intelligence. The symbiosis of the Belarusian and Russian services has strengthened further following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and restrictions on conducting operations on Polish territory from traditional cover positions. Belarusian military intelligence is carrying out intensive reconnaissance activities targeting military facilities and critical infrastructure.

“Belarusian special services carry out mass recruitment on their own territory and then attempt to transfer their agents to Poland. These actions are characterised by varying levels of professionalism. Over the past two years, we have observed an increase in repressive actions by Belarusian officers against citizens of the Republic of Belarus who are recruitment targets (blackmail, direct coercion).

Other manifestations of hostile activity by the Republic of Belarus’s special services also include attempts to establish cooperation with Polish citizens who regularly travel to Belarus, as well as operational infiltration into the Polish minority in that country”, the report said.

Assessing threats from China, the authors of the document point to the growing presence and political and economic influence of China in Belarus.

The report also mentions migration pressure on the border with Belarus, as well as Minsk’s hybrid actions in the migration sphere, which facilitate the arrival in Poland of foreigners who may pose a security threat, as they originate from countries with an elevated terrorist risk.

Belarus and Russia are also mentioned in the section on social polarisation.

“The spread of extremist content deepens divisions in society, making it less resilient to destabilising actions. Narratives promoted by leaders and key activists of anti-state movements often correlate with expressions of support for the policies of the regimes of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

The vulnerability of individuals to such information and psychological operations (manipulation and disinformation) contributes to their radicalisation. As a result, some people increasingly trust narratives and behavioural models promoted by Russia and Belarus, mistakenly perceiving them as a source of order, strength and security”, the authors of the report said.

ABW also records activity by hackers linked to Belarusian state structures. In particular, it mentions the UNC1151 group alongside Russian hacker groups APT28 (Fancy Bear) and APT29 (Midnight Blizzard). They target strategic intelligence data, engage in cyber espionage, and carry out influence and disinformation operations.