Polish FM accuses Russian military intelligence of rail sabotage
Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has accused the Russian military intelligence GRU of having organised the recent acts of sabotage along a Polish railway line leading to Ukraine.
"A foreign state sent well-prepared saboteurs and only a miracle prevented them from reaching their goal," Sikorski said in an address before the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, Poland was shaken by two sabotage incidents along the railway line connecting Warsaw with the Dorohusk station on the border with Ukraine. In the first one, the railway track was blown up with an explosive, while in the second one damaged railway infrastructure forced a train carrying 475 passengers to stop abruptly.
Sikorski went on to say that "in recent days we saw activities of foreign services that could lead to a rail disaster and the deaths of multiple people."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday said Warsaw had identified two Ukrainian nationals as the perpetrators who acted upon instructions received from Russian special services.
Sikorski said that "the Russian GRU routinely hires subcontractors under a false flag to do its dirty work."
"This time it was an act of not only subversion, as happened before, but an act of state terror as its clear intention was to cause human casualties," the foreign minister continued.
"This will meet with our response, not only a diplomatic one, about which we will inform you in the coming days," he concluded.
At a press conference that followed his Sejm address, Sikorski announced that the Russian consulate in the northern city of Gdansk will be closed.
"I've decided to withdraw the consent to the operation of Russia's last consulate (in Poland - PAP), in Gdansk," Sikorski said. The other consulates were gradually closed as acts of sabotage in Poland intensified, for which Warsaw blamed Moscow.
The minister also warned that "it will not be our full response" to the recent acts of sabotage.
Sikorski said that he had on numerous occasions warned Russia that if the country did not stop its hostile actions against Poland, Warsaw would further reduce Russian diplomatic and consular presence in the country.
However, Poland is not planning to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, the foreign minister said.
"We're not planning to break diplomatic relations, just as other countries where acts of sabotage or terrorism have taken place have not severed them," Sikorski said.
"I will discuss this matter personally with NATO Secretary General (Mark Rutte - PAP) this evening, and tomorrow I will brief the EU Foreign Affairs Council," Sikorski announced, adding that the response to Russia will come not only from his ministry.
Later in the day, the Reuters news agency reported that the Russian foreign ministry said it would cut Poland's diplomatic and consular presence in the country in response to the closure of Russia's consulate in Gdansk. (PAP)
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