Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a fire at a drone component factory in the city of Skarzysko-Kamienna was a deliberate arson and an act of sabotage.
"As for the fires at the two factories… in the case of Skarzysko-Kamienna, there is no doubt this was deliberate arson, an act of sabotage. In the case of Lublin, we don’t have such evidence, but given the nature of the production, deliberate arson cannot be ruled out there either," Tusk said at a government meeting, Polish Radio reported.
Tusk said the coming weeks and months will be decisive not only for the war between Russia and Ukraine, but will also pose a serious challenge for countries across the region, saying Russia plans to escalate tensions and destabilize the situation there.
Tusk also linked the arson attacks to a vote scheduled for Friday in the Polish parliament on President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a law regulating the cryptocurrency market.
He urged opposition lawmakers and Nawrocki to change their position on the bill, saying its passage would significantly hinder the financing of terrorist activity directed against Poland.
According to Tusk, "the vast majority of terrorist operations" rely on cryptocurrencies, including the sabotage and arson attacks uncovered by Polish authorities.
"There was no doubt that the method of paying and hiring the attackers was based on cryptocurrencies," Tusk said, arguing that the lack of regulation had allowed the market to operate with virtually no oversight.
"Russia uses cryptocurrencies as its main… mechanism for financing this kind of operation," he added.
Tusk urged lawmakers to pass the bill on Friday, saying it would make it harder for Russia to carry out operations against Poland.
He added that Polish security services were consulted during the bill’s drafting and expressed a "unanimous view" that the legislation was needed "to make it harder to finance terrorist and other criminal activity."
As previously reported, a fire broke out overnight on Aug 31 at the WB Electronics factory in the Polish city of Skarzysko-Kamienna, which produces drones for the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces.
Police, canine units and a thermal-imaging drone were sent to the scene. Special services, including the Internal Security Agency and Military Counterintelligence Service, were also notified. Authorities have not ruled out arson as the cause of the fire.
WB Electronics is Poland’s largest private defense company, manufacturing components and systems for drones used by the Polish and Ukrainian militaries.
