Polish man in his 60s is detained over 'planned mass murder' assassination plot against PM Tusk and his defence minister

From the Newshound archive · first published 11 October 2026 · last updated 12 October 2026.

A man in his 60s has been arrested in Poland's Lower Silesia region over a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz using firearms. The suspect allegedly contacted radical organisations seeking volunteers for the attack, then met a man named Krzysztof to discuss weapons and a 'planned mass murder'. Tusk thanked police for 'swift and decisive action' after security services called an emergency meeting and treated the threat as carrying a 'strong likelihood' of being carried out.

The plot was uncovered after the State Protection Service received an email warning of the assassination attempt and forwarded it to police, who tracked the suspect through his online activity.

Poland is already on high alert following a wave of school stabbings that killed a caretaker last Thursday, with nearly 64,000 institutions inspected and 117 people detained in the aftermath.

Tusk warned in September that Russia was likely to intensify hybrid attacks on Nato's eastern flank — and Polish intelligence arrested a 17-year-old Nazi sympathiser the same month.