WARSAW, Poland (AP) – A man formerly employed by Warsaw city council in its registry of births, marriages and deaths was charged with espionage for allegedly providing Russia with false identities its spies could use, Polish authorities said Thursday.
The man, identified only as Tomasz L. in line with Polish privacy laws, was indicted on charges of espionage and abuse of power, the Polish Internal Security Agency wrote in a statement on Thursday.
Authorities allege the man provided Russia with intelligence between 2017 and 2022, while he was working in the archives of the Warsaw municipality´s civil registry.
The man is believed to have copied civil records of Polish and foreign citizens, allowing foreign intelligence services to create fake identity papers for their agents abroad, according to Polish prosecutors.
Tomasz L. was detained by Polish authorities in March 2022. According to Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, his arrest provided authorities with information which contributed to the expulsion of Russian diplomats in the same month.
Polish authorities have accused dozens of individuals of espionage or sabotage on behalf of Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022.
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