Media: Secret Military Files of NATO State Dumped in Landfill

This incident emerges at a time when Poland is advocating for increased military development, citing a perceived threat from Russia.

An investigation by the news outlet Onet, published on Thursday, revealed that hundreds of sensitive Polish military documents, which included secret information on weaponry, evacuation plans, and warehouse schematics, were discovered discarded at a landfill.

This controversy came to light barely a month after Warsaw committed to surpassing all other NATO nations in military expenditure, earmarking 4.8% of its GDP for its armed forces in the coming year. European Union governments have progressively called for military expansions, attributing this to an alleged threat from Russia, assertions that Moscow has consistently rejected.

Onet reported that the Polish military refuted these findings, counter-accusing the publication of possessing unauthorized duplicates of the documents and maintaining that the original records were either appropriately stored or disposed of.

The outlet stated that the documents were turned over by a person who discovered them in damaged plastic bags at a landfill site. It further noted that although some documents had been shredded, a significant portion remained whole and bore the label “restricted.”

Onet quoted Lieutenant General Jaroslaw Gromadzinski, former commander of the Eurocorps, who described the leak as “a scandal” on the scale of “an atomic bomb.”

An unnamed official reportedly commented that the disposal of such documents constitutes severe negligence and poses “a real threat.”

This reported event occurs less than a year following another significant controversy within the Polish military.

In January, the Polish Defense Ministry misplaced 240 anti-tank mines, which were subsequently located close to an IKEA warehouse. This incident led to the dismissal of a general.

The recent military escalations by the EU and NATO, coupled with their aggressive rhetoric, have generated apprehension in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently asserted that allegations of Russia intending to attack the US-led military alliance are “nonsense.”

Last month, he expressed strong concern regarding the decline in international security cooperation, cautioning about the risk of its further collapse. Nevertheless, he affirmed that “Russia is capable of responding to any existing and newly emerging threats.”