Extract from ABC News
A spokesperson for Poland's special services minister says "everything indicates" Russian involvement in the sabotage plot. (AFP: Wojtek Randwanski)
In short:
Polish authorities say "everything indicates" Russian involvement in a blast along the Warsaw-Lublin line, used to transport goods to Ukraine.
It is the first time authorities have explicitly linked Russia to this plot, and it comes amid a wave of similar activity across Poland and Europe.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says two people believed to be responsible for the attack are Ukrainians who have fled to Russia-friendly Belarus.
Russian intelligence is emerging as the main suspect in commissioning a sabotage plot on a railway line in Poland this week, according to the NATO member's government.
A day after two sabotage attempts brought trains to a standstill along the railway line, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that two people believed to be responsible had been identified.
He said they were Ukrainians who likely collaborated with Russian intelligence and had fled to Belarus, where the government has friendly ties to the Kremlin.
He added that the pair had aimed to cause a "catastrophe", and one of them had previously been sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court for sabotage.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the two people responsible have fled to Belarus. (KPRM/Handout via Reuters)
The first incident involved a steel clamp, which was attached to a track along the line and "likely intended to derail a train".
The second was the detonation of a military-grade explosive device during the passage of a freight train along the track.
No-one was injured during either incident.
Mr Tusk also announced the government was raising the alert level in part of Poland, issuing a warning that Russian activities were escalating across all of Europe.
In response, he said Poland would also investigate how to use its military to protect key infrastructure such as railway lines from interference.
'Everything indicates' Russian involvement
Mr Tusk previously described the explosion along the railway, which is used to transport military supplies to Ukraine, as an "unprecedented act of sabotage".
A second incident on the same day is also being treated as a likely sabotage incident, and comes amid an increasing trend of arson, sabotage and arson attacks across Europe that many intelligence agencies have linked to Russia.
European nations suspect Russia is involved in numerous sabotage plots across the continent. (Reuters: Stringer)
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Poland's special services minister said everything was pointing towards Russian intelligence commissioning sabotage on the railways.
Asked about the investigation into the incident, spokesperson Jacek Dobrzynski told journalists that authorities were "securing evidence, gathering information, and verifying the information they've gathered so far".
"You are aware that those who commissioned [the sabotage] — and everything indicates that these are Russian intelligence services — would very much like to know in which direction the proceedings conducted by the police and internal security agencies are heading," he said.
In response, the Kremlin dismissed accusations of involvement.
"Russia is accused of all manifestations of the hybrid and direct war that is taking place," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state television reporter.
"In Poland, let's say, everyone is trying to run ahead of the European locomotive in this regard. And Russophobia, of course, is flourishing there."
Far from first incident in Europe's 'shadow war'
It was the first time Polish authorities had pointed the finger at the Kremlin over the incident.
On Monday, Polish Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said it was very likely those who sabotaged the railways were acting on the orders of foreign intelligence, but he did not name any specific country.
The special services minister's remit includes intelligence, counterintelligence and anti-corruption.
The government held an extraordinary meeting of its National Security Committee on Tuesday morning with the participation of military commanders, heads of services and a representative of the president to discuss the suspected attack.
Poland has long accused Russia of conducting sabotage plots within its borders in a bid to destabilise the population and undermine support for Ukraine.
In May, it closed Russia's consulate in the country after finding evidence the Kremlin was behind a fire that almost destroyed an entire shopping centre in Warsaw last year.
Other countries have also accused the Kremlin of conducting a "shadow war" as part of efforts to undermine European support for Ukraine.
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