Poland detains Belarusian man on suspicion of spying for Minsk, including in Lithuania

Poland publicly announced on February 23, 2026, that it detained Pavel T., a Belarusian national, on February 9 on suspicion of espionage for Belarusian military intelligence. According to spokesperson Przemysław Nowak, Pavel T. conducted espionage between June 2024 and February 2026, focusing on identifying critical infrastructure components important to Poland and NATO defense in Poland, Germany, and Lithuania. The suspect is in pretrial detention for three months and faces a minimum five-year prison sentence if convicted. The arrest was a result of cooperation between Polish Internal Security Agency, Germany's domestic intelligence (BfV), and Lithuania's State Security Department (VSD). This case is part of broader concerns about Russian and Belarusian efforts to destabilize countries backing Ukraine.