Poland to Close Russian Consulate Over Sabotage Claims

(Bloomberg) -- Poland ordered the closure of Russia’s consulate in the western city of Poznan due to an alleged sabotage attempt by the Kremlin, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday.

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The decision comes as governments across Europe grapple with the growing threat of Russian-sponsored acts of sabotage and destabilization.

Sikorski told reporters that prosecutors have presented “strong evidence” of Russian intelligence involvement in “a hybrid war” which also includes acts of sabotage on the territory of Poland and its NATO allies. The minister didn’t provide any evidence.

Warsaw opened investigations into 20 individuals facing espionage charges, the National Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement published on Tuesday. Suspects include a man accused of an attempt to set on fire a paint factory in the western city of Wroclaw.

Concerns over alleged Russian interference have grown since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than two and a half years ago. Earlier this year, Poland arrested a man for his allegedly involvement in aiding a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

In May, the authorities stepped up security at Rzeszow airport, a transit hub that handles as much as 90% of western military aid to Ukraine and became a stopover point for foreign officials visiting Kyiv.

Sikorski said on Tuesday that the government in Warsaw reserves the right to take further “decisive” measures unless Moscow’s alleged malign activities stop.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the move as hostile and pledged a forceful response, according to the state-run RIA Novosti agency.

--With assistance from Maciej Martewicz.

(Updates with details starting in fourth paragraph.)

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