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Poland Expels Russian Diplomats Accused of Sabotaging Warsaw Shopping Center

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Amira Barkhush
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Poland Expels Russian Diplomats Accused of Sabotaging Warsaw Shopping Center
Russian Consulate General in Kraków, Poland, on May 12, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Three diplomats from Russia’s consulate in Kraków have been declared persona non grata over evidence that Russian intelligence orchestrated a sabotage attack on a Warsaw shopping center last year, Argument reported on May 12, citing Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys.

“The diplomatic staff of the consulate has been designated as individuals whose presence in our country is no longer welcome,” Mościcka-Dendys told reporters, adding that the consulate employs three diplomats with official status.

The move follows Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski’s earlier statement that Poland is shutting down the Russian consulate in Kraków.

“Due to evidence that Russian intelligence services committed a shameful act of sabotage against the shopping center on Marywilska Street, I have decided to revoke my consent for the operation of the Russian Federation’s consulate in Kraków,” Sikorski wrote on X.

On May 11, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk publicly accused Russian intelligence services of orchestrating the massive fire that destroyed the Marywilska 44 shopping center in Warsaw on May 12, 2024, vowing justice for the deliberate act of sabotage.

Following a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to resume direct peace talks with Ukraine starting May 15, several world leaders, including Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and US envoy Keith Kellogg, emphasized that negotiations can only begin after a complete and unconditional ceasefire.

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