Poland is closing the last Russian Consulate in the country, located in Gdansk, and accuses the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service of recent acts of sabotage on a railway line to Ukraine. The Kremlin rejects the allegations and criticizes Warsaw’s decision. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, announced that Moscow will respond in kind and will reduce Poland’s diplomatic presence in Russia.
“The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service regularly recruits saboteurs under false flags to do its dirty work. This time it was not a simple act of sabotage, as in the past, but an act of state terrorism, as the obvious aim was to cause casualties. We have already decided to withdraw the agreement for the operation of the last Russian consulate in Gdańsk,” declared the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.
The other Russian consulates were gradually closed by the Polish authorities as the acts of sabotage in Poland intensified, for which Warsaw blamed Moscow.
“As a response measure, the Russian side will reduce the diplomatic and consular presence of Poland in Russia,” said the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
Relations between the two countries have become even more strained after two segments of the Warsaw-Lublin railway line, essential for the transport of military aid to Ukraine, were targeted by sabotage.
In one case there was an explosion, and in another the damaged infrastructure forced a train with about 500 passengers to brake abruptly. The two Ukrainians identified as the perpetrators, coordinated by the Russian special services, fled to Belarus.
As a result, a level three alert has been instituted in some localities in Poland, and the military is patrolling the railways.
Moscow denies any involvement, accusing “Russophobia”.
These incidents add to the wave of fires, sabotage, and cyber attacks reported in Poland and other European countries since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022.