Russian soldier in Poland. Deserter or foreign agent?

The Border Guard detained a Russian soldier in Poland on Wednesday. RMF FM reported that the 41-year-old deserter was in plain clothes and unarmed, but he had military documents with him, including a contract with the army covering participation in military operations against Ukraine.

Russian soldier detained in Poland. What were his motives?

Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration, Czesław Mroczek, told PAP that the foreigner's intentions should be determined.

– It is possible that we are dealing with a deserter who is escaping from the coercion of his own country, from the horrors of war, or we are dealing with a man who was supposed to carry out some tasks in the West – the deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration.

He emphasized that the border should be tight in the context of national security. The deserter got to Poland together with migrants from beyond the eastern border. The matter was investigated by the Internal Security Agency. In a short statement, the Border Guard only confirmed reports of the detention of a 41-year-old from Russia who illegally crossed the Polish-Belarusian border.

Since the beginning of May 2024, nearly 1,500 attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus to Poland have been recorded in the section protected by the Podlaskie Branch of the Border Guard.

Desertions in Vladimir Putin's army have been written about many times. In April this year, British intelligence reported that the scale was unprecedented. Russian courts use an unusual strategy against deserters. Sentences for arbitrarily leaving a military unit are suspended, so captured soldiers are immediately sent back to the front. They don't go to prison, they go back to the battlefield.

In December 2022, the Russian State Duma tightened penalties for desertion. Inducing and encouraging sabotage, as well as financing it, may result in life imprisonment.