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Poland to close Russian consulate in Gdańsk over rail sabotage: FM

19.11.2025 10:00
Poland will close the Russian consulate in the Baltic city of Gdańsk in response to recent sabotage attacks on the Polish rail system orchestrated by Moscow, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Wednesday.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada

"I have made the decision to withdraw consent for the operation of the last Russian consulate general in Gdańsk," Sikorski told reporters.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament that authorities had identified two Ukrainian men working for Russian intelligence as suspects in the sabotage.

Sikorski told lawmakers on Wednesday that Poland would answer last weekend's incidents "not only by diplomatic means," adding that he would outline further steps "in the next few days."

'An act of state terrorism'

He said that Russia's GRU military intelligence service "routinely hires subcontractors under false flags to carry out its dirty work."

"This time, it was not just an act of sabotage, as before, but an act of state terrorism, as the clear intention was to cause human casualties," Sikorski told MPs in Warsaw.

Polish officials say an explosive device destroyed a section of track on the Warsaw-Lublin rail line near the village of Mika over the weekend. The route is a key corridor for transporting Western aid to Ukraine.

In a separate incident on the same line, a train carrying 475 passengers made an emergency stop near the town of Puławy on Sunday after track damage was detected.

No injuries were reported, and the government has launched a wide-ranging investigation.

Tusk told lawmakers on Tuesday that Poland was in "constant contact" with allied security services as it works to apprehend the suspects.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Tuesday that the sabotage attacks on Poland's rail network were part of Russia's broader campaign to destabilize Europe.

Poland closes last remaining Russian consulate

The Gdańsk consulate was Russia's last remaining consular post in Poland.

Authorities shut the Russian consulate in Kraków in July after what Tusk described as a Moscow-orchestrated arson attack on a Warsaw shopping centre.

Last year, Poland also closed Russia's consulate in Poznań following suspected sabotage linked to Russian intelligence.

Russia still operates its embassy in Warsaw, which Sikorski said will remain open because Poland does not plan to sever diplomatic relations with Moscow.

Tensions between the two countries have risen sharply since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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Source: TVN24, IAR, PAP, Reuters