Poland blames Russia for arson attack on Warsaw shopping centre
Russia was behind the fire that completely destroyed a shopping centre in Warsaw last May, Poland has suggested.
Moscow has in the past denied involvement in alleged arson and sabotage operations across Europe.
'We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed on X.
Tusk said some perpetrators have been detained, adding that others have been identified by the authorities. 'We will get you all!' he vowed.
The fire broke out at the shopping centre, located in an industrial area on Warsaw's northern edge, on 12 May, 2024. It burned down 1,400 shops, many of which were run by the city's Vietnamese community.
Poland's Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior Affairs said the attack was 'organised and directed by a specific person residing in the Russian Federation' in a joint statement released on Sunday.
The ministries added that Polish authorities have been working in cooperation with their Lithuanian counterparts, given that a number of people allegedly involved in the Warsaw shopping centre attack reportedly carried out 'acts of diversion' in Lithuania.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Monday that Poland would now close the Russian consulate in Krakow.
'In connection with evidence that it was Russian special services who committed the reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping centre on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw consent for the operation of the consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,' said Sikorski.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by accusing Warsaw of 'deliberately' seeking to destroy relations between the two nations by 'acting against its citizens".
'An appropriate response to these inadequate steps will follow soon," Zakharova told Russia's state-owned news agency TASS.
An EU-Ukraine Task Force to boost defence industries' ties is meeting for the first time on Monday with Brussels keen to replicate Kyiv's innovation and production prowesses since the beginning of Russia's aggression.
"Today, we announce the creation of the inter-institutional EU-Ukraine Task Force. And today Ukrainian and European experts of that group will convene for the very first meeting to assist integration of our defence industries, to facilitate development of joint projects or joint procurement processes," Andrius Kubilius, the European commissioner for defence and space, told the second edition of the EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum.
Supply chain issues and capability areas identified as priorities including explosives and drones are of particular interest for the group.
"We need to learn from Ukraine how to create a drone production and operation infrastructure," Kubilius said, adding that when it comes to drones "who needs integration more: Ukraine or Europe? My answer - Europe".
According to the Ukrainian government, the country's annual defence production capacity is expected to reach €35 billion this year, a 35-fold increase from 2022 when Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale attack against its neighbour.
Europe's industry, meanwhile, initially struggled to ramp up, infamously missing a target to produce one million ammunition rounds within 12 months. It's now on course to produce two million rounds this year.
Ukraine's defence companies are not only battle-tested, but also "fast", " modern", and able to produce at "half the price" compared to their European counterparts, Kubilius said.
"There is a need for Europeans not only to buy weapons from Ukraine and for Ukraine. There is a clear need for Europeans to buy technologies, know-how of production and of management systems from Ukraine for our own European defence industries," he also said.
Alexander Kamyshin, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told the same forum that the conflict will go down in history "as the first world drone war".
Ukraine, he added, has had "substantial success in manufacturing all types of unmanned systems" and now has "a solution for AI-driven auto-targeting for aerial strike drones".
"The next big thing is the swarms of drones, coordinated attack capability."
"We are ready to share what our industry learnt in this war with you, our strategic partners," he said, adding: "We're here to build the arsenal of the free world together."
The EU is planning to pour hundreds of billions of euros into the defence sector over the coming four years, including up to €650 billion through additional fiscal space and €150 billion via a new loan programme, called SAFE, aimed at boosting joint procurement of European-made capabilities, and from which Ukraine and its companies can benefit too.
Member states are currently negotiating the parameters of SAFE and are expected to conclude talks before the end of the month. It will then take over six months for the first disbursements to come through.
The Commission is meanwhile holding a Strategic Dialogue with the EU-based industry this week, followed by an Implementation Dialogue towards the end of May and a simplification omnibus for the sector in mid-June.
An Industry Outlook plan, based on national capability targets provided by member states, is meanwhile expected to be released in late June, when EU leaders are also set to approve common European flagship projects in defence.
"Peace through strength will come from production power and brain power. To stop Putin, we need to produce more, we need to innovate more, and we need to do that together: in the EU and with Ukraine," Kubilius said.
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