Russian influence on the Polish fringe has run mainly through small nationalist and populist parties. The most serious documented case involves Mateusz Piskorski, a former member of parliament for the populist Self-Defence (Samoobrona) party who founded the openly pro-Russian Zmiana party in 2015. Poland’s Internal Security Agency detained him in May 2016, and he was indicted in 2018 on charges of espionage for Russian and Chinese intelligence; his closed trial began in 2019. This section covers Self-Defence and National Revival of Poland.
Sources
- Notes from Poland. “Polish Far-Right Leader Braun Names Man on Trial for Russian Espionage as Election Candidate.” January 7, 2026.