Polish internal security services have dismantled a smuggling network attempting to funnel advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Russia for use in military drone production.

Officers from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the National Revenue Administration arrested six people on February 18 — four Belarusian nationals and two Polish citizens — suspected of attempting to illegally smuggle equipment used in the production of integrated circuits through Belarus to Russia. These components are used, among other things, in the assembly of combat drones.

The operation was carried out on orders from the Łódź Regional Branch of the National Prosecution Service.

Poland’s National Prosecution Service confirmed that those detained face charges under the country’s sanctions law, which „introduces special restrictions and prohibitions aimed at countering Russian aggression against Ukraine and protecting national security.” The law explicitly bans the export of strategically significant equipment that could be used in the production of military technology.

Crucially, Polish lawmakers have classified violations of the sanctions act as a felony, carrying a minimum prison sentence of three years.

Three of the suspects were remanded in custody for three months. The remaining three were released under financial bail, placed under police supervision, and banned from leaving the country.

The ABW emphasized that disrupting the smuggling of this semiconductor production machinery „caused disruptions to the military equipment supply chain for Russian Federation forces operating in eastern Ukraine.” The interception is seen as a meaningful blow to Russia’s ability to source components critical to its battlefield drone program — technology that has played an increasingly prominent role in the war in Ukraine.

The news was first announced by Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the coordinator of Poland’s special services, on platform X, though initial reports incorrectly stated that five people had been detained before the National Prosecution Service clarified the final count of six.