Poland boots Russian diplomats over shopping mall inferno in hybrid war showdown
WARSAW, May 12 — Poland's top diplomat said Monday that he ordered the closure of a Russian consulate over 'sabotage' after authorities accused Russia of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre last year.
Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv-ally Poland has claimed to be the target of sabotage attempts the authorities blame on Russia.
Russia immediately vowed an 'adequate response' to Poland over the closure of the Krakow consulate.
'Due to evidence that it was the Russian secret services that carried out the reprehensible act of sabotage against the Marywilska shopping centre, I have decided to withdraw my authorisation for the activity of the Russian consulate in Krakow,' said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said 'Warsaw continues to deliberately undermine relations, acting against the interests of its citizens'.
'An adequate response to these inadequate steps will follow shortly,' she told the RIA Novosti state news agency.
In May 2024, a fire completely destroyed a large shopping centre in Warsaw and the 1,400 businesses it housed, most of them owned by members of the Vietnamese community.
Authorities opened an investigation and on Sunday they pinned the blame on Moscow.
'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,' said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
'Hybrid war'
The justice and interior ministries said in a separate statement Sunday that some of the alleged perpetrators were already in custody, while others had been identified but were still at large.
'Their actions were organised and directed by a specific person residing in the Russian Federation', the two ministries said, adding that they were cooperating with Lithuania, 'where some of the perpetrators also carried out acts of diversion'.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has detained and convicted several individuals suspected of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence services, including assaults, arson or attempted arson.
In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow's 'involvement' in a 'hybrid war'.
Five months later, Warsaw ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, in western Poland, accusing Moscow of orchestrating 'sabotage attempts'.
In December, Polish diplomacy said it was willing to close all Russian consulates in Poland if acts of 'terrorism' continued.
Russia closed in January the Polish consulate in Saint Petersburg in retaliation.
Bordering Ukraine, Poland — a Nato and European Union member — is one of the main countries through which Western nations supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv to help Ukraine fight Russian troops. — AFP
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