Russian plot to kill Ukrainian American thwarted in Warsaw, says Polish PM

Donald Tusk says it is first time ‘someone on the order of Russia’ has sought to attack US citizen in Nato country A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. Western officials have previously warned that Russia stepped up a campaign of targeted killings since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying they had disrupted several plots across Europe. But Tusk said this incident was unprecedented. The suspect, who was allegedly recruited by Russia’s secret services, was detained by Polish authorities on 7 August. He will be held in custody for three months, the Warsaw police said in a statement. The American Ukrainian citizen “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime”, Tusk said in a news conference, without elaborating. The operation was carried out in cooperation with US services, said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister overseeing intelligence services. He said the targeted victim was a US citizen “of Ukrainian origin”