UPDATE: Poland to shut Russian consulate over ‘sabotage’ attempts, Moscow vows to retaliate
rl/pk
22.10.2024, 14:40 | Update 16:02
‘We demand an end to the hybrid war against Poland,’ Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told a press conference on Tuesday.
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Poland is shutting the Russian consulate in the western city of Poznań owing to attempted “sabotage” on Polish soil, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, while Moscow warned it would retaliate in a "painful" way.
The announcements heighten tensions between Russia and Poland, which has been a staunch backer of Kyiv and a fierce critic of the Kremlin amid the conflict in Ukraine.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski accused Moscow of waging a hybrid war, adding he had evidence that Russia stood behind a number of recent sabotage attempts both in Poland and in allied countries.
"I have withdrawn my consent for the Russian Federation to operate a consulate in Poznań. We demand an end to the hybrid war against Poland and its allies. Should it continue, we reserve the right to take further, decisive actions,” Sikorski said.
In a post on X, he added that Russia was “attempting to commit sabotage on Polish soil.”
“As the foreign minister, it is my duty to respond decisively. The first step is to close the Russian consulate in Poznań. We will not back down. We’re defending Poland; we’re defending the Polish people.”
Rosja prowadzi wojnę hybrydową. Dopuszcza się prób dywersji na terenie Polski. Jako Minister Spraw Zagranicznych moim obowiązkiem jest stanowczo zareagować. Pierwszy krok to zamknięcie Konsulatu Rosji w Poznaniu.
Nie cofniemy się ani o krok. Bronimy Rzeczpospolitej, bronimy…
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, quoted by the RIA news agency, described Poland's move as "another hostile step" and promised a "painful" retaliation.
Poland’s rp.pl news website reported that the Russian consulate in Poznań is to be closed in the coming days.
Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported earlier this month that a 51-year-old individual linked with Russian intelligence had been detained after planning to set fire to a paint factory in the southwestern Polish city of Wrocław.
Prosecutors charged the man with membership of an organized crime group and planning sabotage for Russian intelligence.
The Rzeczpospolita daily reported that the group is believed to have committed arson on a pallet plant near Warsaw and an Italian restaurant in the coastal city of Gdynia, among other crimes.
In September, Sikorski said that Russia has been actively targeting Baltic Sea nations through various forms of aggression, including conducting “sabotage operations such as arson attacks in Poland,” and launching cyberattacks.
Meanwhile, the UK's domestic spy chief, Ken McCallum, warned the same month that Russia's GRU military intelligence service was “seeking to cause mayhem across Britain and Europe.”
