Poland says Russia recruited arsonists online for Warsaw fire

Poland's overseas curate says his state has grounds that Russia recruited radical connected the Telegram messaging work to transportation retired past year's monolithic buying centre occurrence successful Warsaw.

Speaking to the BBC successful an exclusive interview, Radek Sikorski said Moscow's actions were "completely unacceptable" and that a 2nd Russian consulate successful Poland had been closed arsenic a result.

His comments travel aft a Polish probe concluded that the Marywilska buying centre occurrence was orchestrated by Moscow's quality services.

Russia denied its involvement, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accusing Poland of being "Russophobic".

The May 2024 occurrence destroyed 1,400 tiny businesses, with galore of the unit determination belonging to Warsaw's Vietnamese community.

"We person grounds that they commissioned radical surviving successful Poland, they commissioned them connected Telegram and paid them to acceptable occurrence to this immense buying mall," Sikorski said connected Monday.

"It was by occurrence that cipher was hurt, but this is wholly unacceptable."

The overseas curate told the BBC helium had decided Russia's beingness successful Poland indispensable beryllium "further curtailed" and that Russia's consulate successful Krakow had present been closed successful bid to effort and marque it harder for Moscow to "spy" connected Poland.

"We volition instrumentality further decisions if they proceed these hybrid attacks," Sikorski said.

Hybrid warfare is simply a word utilized to picture however a hostile authorities carries retired an anonymous, deniable attack, usually successful highly suspicious circumstances.

It volition beryllium capable to harm their opponent, particularly their infrastructure assets, but halt abbreviated of being an attributable enactment of war.

Only 1 consulate present remains unfastened successful Poland, alongside the embassy. The ngo successful the metropolis of Poznań was closed past twelvemonth aft Warsaw accused Russia of acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare.

When asked connected Monday wherefore Poland did not conscionable sever each diplomatic ties, Sikorski said: "I anticipation it doesn't travel to that."

Responding to the closure of the Krakow consulate, Peskov said: "All these accusations are perfectly groundless, baseless.

"There are a batch of antithetic accusations against Russia being voiced successful Poland. This portion is perfectly Russophobic and unfriendly towards our country."

He added: "As for the simplification of Russia's diplomatic beingness successful Poland, these are integral parts of a communal concatenation aimed astatine curtailing the already deplorable authorities of bilateral relations. Poland chooses hostility and unfriendliness towards us."

Since Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022, Poland has detained and convicted respective radical accused of sabotage connected behalf of Russian quality services.

Russia's overseas ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, told authorities media: "Warsaw continues to deliberately destruct relations, acting against the interests of citizens".

Poland carried retired a year-long probe into the buying centre incident, earlier concluding the occurrence was organised by an unnamed idiosyncratic successful Russia.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk connected Sunday said that immoderate of those liable were already successful custody, portion each the others alleged to person been progressive had been identified and were being searched for.

Many workers mislaid important documents and ample sums of currency successful the fire, which were kept astatine the buying centre owed to fearfulness of break-ins astatine home.

Another buying centre successful Warsaw, Modlinska 6D, was opened successful October past year, with traders relocating their businesses to the caller site.