News
Poland has decided to close the Russian Consulate General in Gdańsk, Reuters reports, citing Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Sikorski said Warsaw’s consent for the consulate’s operation will be withdrawn as a response to a recent act of sabotage on Poland’s rail network.
Andrey Ordash, Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Poland, confirmed the development to state-controlled broadcaster Rossiya-1, saying that Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered Russia to close the consular office by Dec. 23.
“The consulate must be closed by Dec. 23 this year. All employees must leave Polish territory by that date,” the diplomat said.
Russia’s consulates in Kraków (closed in June) and Poznań (closed in November 2024) had already been shut down. After the closure of the office in Gdańsk, Russian citizens will only be able to receive consular services at the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw. The Insider has confirmed that Russians seeking help at the Gdańsk consulate are already being redirected to the section Warsaw, where long lines were already common.
The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Poland of “Russophobia.” Moscow is set to respond by scaling back Poland’s diplomatic presence in Russia, as per a report by state-controlled news agency TASS.
“In response, the Russian side will reduce Poland’s diplomatic and consular missions in Russia,” commented Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“Now we have only one consular office left in Poland — the consular section of the embassy. The workload will, of course, increase significantly because we will have to serve the entire territory of Poland. As they say, we're used to it. But I think that we will take reciprocal measures. The Poles also have only one consulate general left, in Irkutsk. I think its fate is sealed,” added Andrey Ordash.
On Nov. 16, an explosion damaged railway tracks on the Warsaw-Lublin line at a location about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Poland’s capital. Police found a second explosive device nearby that had failed to detonate. On Nov. 18, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the authorities had identified two suspects in the railway sabotage. Both are Ukrainian citizens who were acting on instructions from Russian security services.