Polish Pianist on Trial for Alleged Russian Espionage

In the District Court of Bydgoszcz, prosecutors are trying 28-year-old Polish citizen Wiktor Z., who stands accused of spying for Russian intelligence. According to investigators, he allegedly showed interest in cooperation during an interrogation at the Belarusian border crossing in Brest, where he traveled with an acquaintance visiting his homeland, Gazeta Wyborcza said.

According to the prosecution, Wiktor Z. collected and attempted to pass along information last spring regarding the NATO Joint Force Training Center, Bydgoszcz Airport, the Military Aviation Works facility, and the Nitro-Chem enterprise — a strategic TNT producer for NATO countries.

However, prosecutors claim the information never reached Russian intelligence services. Instead, Polish authorities themselves became the recipients of the material.

From Pianist to Espionage Defendant

By education, Wiktor Z. is a pianist. He also graduated from the Faculty of Applied Linguistics and speaks both German and Russian fluently. According to court testimony, he maintained a deep fascination with Russia.

He was also actively involved in ASG, a military tactical game similar to paintball. Through this hobby, he met a woman named Marta, whom he reportedly tried to impress. She later appeared in court as a witness.

According to Wiktor, he traveled to Belarus for tourism purposes together with a Belarusian acquaintance named Valery and Valery's then-girlfriend Darya.

"He said some kind of internal security service detained him at the border. They spoke with him and another Ukrainian man, searched his phone, and asked about his political views and his attitude toward Russia and Belarus. He showed them photographs of himself in a Soviet uniform,” Marta testified.

She added that he never mentioned receiving any direct proposal to cooperate with foreign intelligence services at the time.

"He gave them information about where he would stay in Belarus and his contact details. "You are a person with the right views,' he heard from the Belarusian officer,” Marta said.

Valery had moved to Poland for work and met Wiktor through an employment agency where the Polish citizen acted as his coordinator. He reportedly explained that thorough interrogations of Poles and Ukrainians at the Belarusian border were routine procedure and likely conducted by border guards.

Investigators believe Wiktor may have attached greater significance to the questioning, assuming the interrogation came from the Belarusian KGB.

According to testimony presented during the proceedings, Wiktor openly expressed pro-Russian views in conversations with Polish acquaintances. Witnesses said he expected Russia to prevail in the war in Ukraine and referred to Ukrainians as "Banderites,” "fascists,” and "Nazis.”

He also reportedly discussed NATO-linked sites and wondered aloud what might happen if information about them were "leaked to the East.”

Growing Security Concerns in Poland

The trial comes amid heightened security concerns across Poland and Eastern Europe over alleged Russian intelligence activity connected to the war in Ukraine and NATO military infrastructure.

Polish authorities have intensified counterintelligence operations over the past two years, especially around military logistics hubs, defense industries, airports, and facilities involved in supporting Ukraine.

Bydgoszcz itself hosts strategically important military infrastructure and NATO-linked institutions, making the city particularly sensitive from a security standpoint.