FSB's Released 'Polish Spy' Messages Draw Doubt From Native Polish Speakers

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) released Polish-language messages alongside its announcement that Polish citizens had been detained in the Kaliningrad region, and native speakers have questioned their authenticity, the news outlet Agentstvo reported. The matter is significant because the FSB uses such material to support espionage charges against Polish nationals.

On November 11, the FSB said a Polish intelligence "spy network" had been operating in the Kaliningrad region and that two "agents" had been detained on espionage charges. Russian authorities allege the detainees collected and passed on information about Russian military personnel and Defense Ministry facilities. Two statements from the regional court confirm that both detainees are Polish citizens. One was arrested on July 30, the other on October 28.

What the video shows

The FSB also published a video of the detainees showing part of a WhatsApp exchange between a "Polish intelligence agent and his handler." By the FSB's translation, the two discussed the appearance, age and rank of an officer working at the border. A user behind the account KrzysiekWSK on Polish-language X drew attention to screenshots from the video.

Agentstvo also asked two native Polish speakers to examine the exchange. They identified several problems: both participants make mistakes; the phrase "robić rozmowy," which the FSB rendered as "communicates," is not used in Poland; "na granice" appears instead of "na granicy"; and "napiewnie" (translated as "probably") appears instead of "na pewno," as does "na powrocie" instead of "po powrocie" ("after returning").

One of the speakers told Agentstvo the text does not sound like native Polish and looks like a translation, especially the green messages, while the white messages sound more natural.