Belarus detains Polish Carmelite monk for alleged spying

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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has detained a Polish monk on suspicion of espionage, the latest escalation in Minsk’s long-running standoff with its NATO member neighbor.

Belarusian authorities said Thursday that Grzegorz Gaweł, 27, was arrested in the town of Lepel, northwest of the Belarusian capital, after he allegedly obtained sensitive documents relating to military drills involving Russia. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Belarus, Moscow’s close and dependent ally, allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to send troops into neighboring Ukraine in 2022, and has also hosted some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons. Its strongman President, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 30 years, relying on subsidies and support from the Kremlin.

Belarusian state television on Thursday broadcast what it said was footage of Gaweł’s arrest. It shows the Pole handing to uniformed officers a copy of a document marked “secret." The document's heading suggests it pertains to joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises set to begin next Friday.

Belarusian security officers are shown pushing Gaweł to the ground, confiscating money and a SIM card registered in another name.

A Belarusian citizen was also detained, Belarusian state TV said Thursday. It claimed Gaweł had attempted to recruit the unidentified man on social media, offering money and other gifts.

Social media posts by the Polish Carmelite order reference Gaweł as one of its monks. Belarusian state TV earlier claimed a rosary and “other religious objects” were found on Gaweł during his arrest.

Jacek Dobrzyński, a spokesperson for Poland’s special services, described Gaweł’s detention as “another provocation by Lukashenko’s regime.”

“Polish special services do not use monks to gather information on military maneuvers,” he wrote on X on Thursday.

Relations between Belarus and Poland have long been strained due to Lukashenko’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his repression of dissidents, including clergy who have supported mass protests in 2020 against the regime.

For years, Warsaw has unsuccessfully sought the release from prison of Andrzej Poczobut, a correspondent for a major Polish newspaper and a leader of the Polish minority community in Belarus. Poczobut has now served five years of his eight-year sentence, on charges of harming Belarus’ national security and “sowing discord” that he and his supporters call a sham.

The joint drills involving Russia and Belarus are dubbed Zapad, or West, and expected to involve more than 13,000 troops. They will be closely watched in the West because of Belarus’ proximity to three NATO states — Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania — and its shared border with Ukraine.

According to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, the drills will involve “planned use” of Russian nuclear weapons and the hypersonic Oreshnik missile first launched in December.

Belarus says it is expecting imminent deliveries of the Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile Moscow says is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and striking any European target.

Minsk on Friday summoned the Polish chargé d’affaires in connection with Gaweł's arrest and demanded that Warsaw refrain from “actions that damage Belarus’ national security.”