EditPoland to close Russian consulate, deploy soldiers after railway sabotage
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said up to 10,000 soldiers will be deployed to help protect critical infrastructure such as railways
Poland said on Wednesday it would close the last Russian consulate in its territory and deploy thousands of soldiers to protect infrastructure in response to a railway explosion it blames on Moscow.
Poland, a major ally in Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion, says two Ukrainians collaborating with Moscow perpetrated the weekend blast on the Warsaw-Lublin line, which connects Warsaw to the Ukrainian border.
Polish railway track blast an ‘unprecedented act of sabotage’, PM says
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said at a news conference that the first response would be to close Russia’s last operating consulate in the northern city of Gdansk.
Warsaw has previously closed Russian consulates in Krakow and Poznan over sabotage acts.
“It was not only an act of sabotage but also an act of state terrorism,” Sikorski told lawmakers.
Moscow denies responsibility for sabotage, citing “Russophobia”, and said it would likewise limit Poland’s diplomatic and consular presence in Russia.
Sikorski said he would ask other EU nations to limit Russian diplomats’ travel in the 25-nation Schengen free-travel area.
There has been a wave of arson, sabotage and cyberattacks in Poland and other European nations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said up to 10,000 soldiers will be deployed to help protect critical infrastructure such as railways.
Christmas warning
The Polish army chief of staff, Wieslaw Kukula, speaking to reporters alongside the defence minister, warned that the upcoming long winter nights and Christmas period could be perceived by Poland’s enemies as a good time for sabotage.
A special app is planned for citizens to report suspicious situations.
Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for Poland’s minister in charge of intelligence services, said that in addition to the two main Ukrainian suspects who have fled to Belarus, several other people had been detained over the railway blast.
A spokesperson for Polish prosecutors, Przemyslaw Nowak, said a prosecutor signed a decision to charge in absentia the two Ukrainian men – named as Oleksandr K. and Yevhenii I. – for sabotage on 15 and 16 November on orders of Russian intelligence.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the threat and agreed on cooperation between special services and state railways, plus the need to identify collaborators.
The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the attack highlighted risks to European rail infrastructure essential to move military equipment and troops fast.
With Reuters.
Caption: Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski delivers a speech to the lower house (Sejm) of the Polish parliament in Warsaw, Poland, 19 November 2025. Sikorski has accused the Russian military intelligence GRU of having organized the recent acts of sabotage along a Polish railway line leading to Ukraine. EPA/ALBERT ZAWADA
Updated: November 20, 2025 - 06:59
