Poland closes Russian consulate and expels diplomats in response to sabotage

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland has ordered one of Russia’s consulates to close and its staff to leave the country in response to what it says are acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare being carried out by Moscow.

In a statement, Poland’s foreign ministry announced that Radosław Sikorski, the foreign minister, had withdrawn consent for the operation of Russia’s consulate in the city of Poznań.

“Diplomatic staff of the mission will be considered personae non gratae on the territory of Poland,” they added.

Minister Spraw Zagranicznych 🇵🇱 @sikorskiradek podjął decyzję o wycofaniu zgody na działanie konsulatu Federacji Rosyjskiej w Poznaniu.

Szczegóły decyzji ⤵️

— Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych RP 🇵🇱 (@MSZ_RP) October 22, 2024

The ministry noted that in the city of Wrocław, which is in the Poznań consulate’s area of operations, “there was recently an attempt at sabotage inspired by the activities of foreign intelligence”.

“According to information from Polish security services, Russia is conducting a form of hybrid warfare against Poland,” they continued. “Cyberattacks are being carried out, and Poland’s eastern border, which is also the border of the Schengen area, is being attacked.”

“Minister Radosław Sikorski demands that the Russian authorities cease this type of activity against Poland and our allies,” concluded the statement. “If such actions are repeated, Poland reserves the right to take further decisive action.”

In response to the announcement, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, told news agency RIA Novosti that Poland’s actions are “another hostile step that will be met with a painful response”.

 

This week, Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading Polish newspaper, published leaked material from an investigation by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) into a Ukrainian citizen with Russian sympathies who had been planning to set fire to a paint factory in Wrocław.

He had done so on the instructions of a man contacting him through the messaging service Telegram, who ABW officers told Gazeta Wyborcza they are certain is associated with Russia’s intelligence services.

Sikorski himself told broadcaster TVN that it was the Russian security services who were behind the planned arson and that they were planning similar attacks in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

The Ukrainian man had agreed a deal with investigators to admit guilt and receive three years in prison. However, that arrangement was rejected by a court, which felt the punishment could be too lenient and that the case should proceed to a full trial.

„Wyborcza” ujawnia: Rosyjska dywersja w Polsce. Próbuje podpalić Europę. Wrocławska ABW i operacja „Lucky Strike” https://t.co/AunWi8TMa6

— Rafał Więcek (@RafaZabrze) October 22, 2024

Poland has already previously suggested that it is likely Russia was behind other acts of sabotage earlier this year. In May, Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed that nine people had been charged on suspicion of acts of sabotage on behalf of the Kremlin

Later that same month, Sikorski announced that he was introducing restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats, with the exception of the ambassador, due to Moscow’s involvement in “hybrid” attacks, especially sabotage activities.

In 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats who it claimed were actually spies. Last year, Russia closed the Polish consulate in the city of Smolensk in response to what it said were “unfriendly, anti-Russian actions” by Poland.

Poland has also accused Russia of being behind various acts of cyberwarfare against Polish institutions as well as the migration crisis on the border with Belarus.

It is “likely” that Russia was involved in the fire that recently destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre, says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

However, he added that investigations are still ongoing https://t.co/SipJtSLIpQ

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 21, 2024

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: MSZ/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.