Between Moscow and NATO: How Poland’s Counterintelligence Lost Its Way

Political purges, FSB links, and NATO alarm: Explore the shocking saga of Gen. Stróżyk’s controversial year reshaping Poland’s counterintelligence.

A Year of Mounting Controversies

The appointment of General Jarosław Stróżyk as the head of Poland’s Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) on December 19, 2023, and his subsequent confirmation as chairman of the government’s “Commission for the Study of Russian and Belarusian Influence on the Internal Security and Interests of the Republic of Poland in the Years 2004–2024” have ignited some of the most heated debates surrounding Polish security in over a decade. It has been a year and two days since Gen. Stróżyk took command of the SKW; his anniversary at the helm, marked on December 19, 2024, arrives in the context of mounting controversies over alleged political persecutions, surprising personnel reappointments, and suspicions of Russian infiltration. What follows is a comprehensive look at the events and decisions that have characterized his leadership—and why they raise concerns not just for Poland but for the entire NATO alliance.

We are sure that notorious war criminal Vladolf Putler (left) is quite happy to have Donald Tusk (top right) as the Prime Minister of Poland and gen. Jarosław Stróżyk (bottom right) as the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service (Polish: Służba Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego; SKW)