Russian secret services are behind the huge fire that almost completely destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw in May 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a year-long investigation into the case, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"We now know for sure that the large fire on "Marivilska" street was the result of arson ordered by the Russian services. The actions were coordinated by a person residing in Russia. Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, and the rest have been identified and are being sought", Tusk said in "Ex".
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. Poland, a staunch ally of Kiev, claims it was the target of sabotage attempts orchestrated by Russia, Agence France-Presse notes. However, Polish authorities have so far refused to blame Moscow for the fire at the shopping mall.
"Based on the evidence collected, we now know that the fire was the result of deliberate arson ordered by Russian special services," the justice and interior ministries, which are responsible for the special services, said in a joint statement published in "Ex". According to him, Warsaw has a clear idea of how the fire originated and developed "as well as the way it was documented by the perpetrators".
"Their actions were organized and led by an identified person residing in the Russian Federation", the statement added.
The Polish services added that they were also cooperating "with Lithuania, where some of the perpetrators also carried out sabotage actions".
In March, Lithuanian prosecutors accused Russian military intelligence of organizing an arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, which broke out three days before the fire at the shopping center in neighboring Poland, Reuters recalls.
Russia denies involvement in the arson attacks.
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Poland has arrested and convicted several people suspected of sabotage actions on behalf of Russian intelligence services and accused of beatings, arson or attempted arson, recalls AFP. In May 2024, Poland decided to impose travel restrictions on Russian diplomats, accusing Moscow of "hybrid warfare". Five months later, Warsaw ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan due to alleged sabotage attempts organized by Moscow.
In December, Polish diplomacy announced that it was ready to close all Russian consulates in Poland if "terrorist acts" continued.
In response, Russia closed the Polish consulate in St. Petersburg in January.
Poland, which borders Ukraine and is a member of NATO and the EU, is one of the main countries through which Western countries send weapons and ammunition to Kiev to help it fight the Russian invasion, notes AFP.