Moscow warns NATO state after consulate closure
Moscow will retaliate to Poland’s reckless decision to close the Russian Consulate in Krakow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced the closure earlier on Monday, claiming that the decision was due to Moscow’s alleged involvement in a May 2024 fire at a Warsaw mall.
He cited unspecified “evidence” that the Russian special services “committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping center on Marywilska Street.” Russia has repeatedly denied Western accusations of sabotage abroad.
On Sunday, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak claimed that the actions of the alleged saboteurs “were organized and directed by an identified person staying in the Russian Federation.” According to the official, some of the perpetrators are already in custody.
Zakharova denounced Warsaw’s move, telling Izvestia that Russia “will respond to Poland’s unreasonable steps.”
“Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of citizens. An appropriate response to these unreasonable steps will follow soon,” she added.
The Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreyev, told RIA Novosti that Warsaw had not notified Moscow about the closure of the consulate.
Poland expects Russia to close one of its own consulates in response, possibly in Kaliningrad or Irkutsk, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
The fire at the Marywilska 44 Shopping Center in Warsaw occurred on May 12, 2024, engulfing almost all of the complex and causing the roof to collapse. Despite the scale of the blaze, no injuries were reported. The center housed around 1,400 shops and service outlets, many operated by members of Warsaw’s Vietnamese community, who suffered significant financial losses.
Poland, along with other Western countries, has on numerous occasions accused Russia of conducting sabotage attacks and engaging in “hybrid warfare” amid the stand-off over Ukraine. Moscow has denied these accusations.
