Star Metro - Poland to close Russian consulate in Krakow over 'sabotage'

Russia immediately vowed an "adequate response" to Poland over the closure of the consulate in the southern city of Krakow.

Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv's ally Poland has claimed to be the target of sabotage attempts blamed on Russia.

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.

"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," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Monday.

"I have a message for Russian authorities: we know what you are doing, we don't accept it and we are taking the appropriate measures," he added later.

Sikorski said Poland had already closed Russia's consulate in the western city of Poznan last year "after the previous act of sabotage".

Russia still has a consulate in the port city of Gdansk and an embassy in Warsaw.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "an adequate response to these inadequate steps will follow shortly".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the accusations were "baseless".

"Poland is choosing hostility," he alleged, accusing Poland of "dismantling bilateral relations", which he said were "already in a deplorable state".

- 'Hybrid war' -

Poland's foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said it had summoned a representative of Russia's embassy for Monday afternoon.

"It was a huge fire. It's a miracle no-one died," he told reporters.

In May 2024, a blaze 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 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 Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The justice and interior ministries said in a statement on 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 ministries said.

On Monday, national prosecutors said they had charged two Ukrainian men with participating in an organised criminal group and carrying out sabotage on behalf of Russia.

"The goal of the group's activity was to carry out arson on large sites" in the European Union, they said.

"This group was notably also responsible for setting fire to an IKEA store" in Vilnius last year.

In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow's "involvement" in a "hybrid war".

Poland later ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Poznan and said it was willing to close the other consulates if acts of "terrorism" continued.

In January, Russia closed the Polish consulate in Saint Petersburg in retaliation.

O.Poirier--SMC