- Incidents on Polish tracks affected bilateral relations.
- Diplomatic relations between the countries remain despite the consular decisions.
- The Russian Ministry described Poland’s decision as hostile.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday that in response to Poland’s decision to close the Russian consulate in Gdansk, it will close its consulate in the Siberian city of Irkutsk from December 30. TASR informs about it according to the reports of TASS and AFP agencies.
The Russian Department of Diplomacy described the Polish actions as “hostile and unauthorized” and summoned the Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski. He was responding to the words of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorsky, who announced last week that he had withdrawn approval for the operation of the last Russian consulate in the country due to alleged ongoing hostile activities.
“On November 27, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Polish ambassador to Russia to inform him of its decision to close the Polish consulate in Irkutsk with effect from December 30, 2025,” the ministry said in a statement.
Sikorski under Moscow’s hostile activities alluded to incidents on Polish railways between November 15 and 17. In the village of Mika in the Masovian Voivodeship, the explosion of the bomb destroyed the railway track, and in the second incident, the train with 475 passengers had to brake suddenly because of the damaged track.
At the same time, the head of Polish diplomacy announced that Poland does not plan to break diplomatic relations with Russia. “We do not plan to break diplomatic relations, just as other countries on whose territory acts of sabotage or terrorism have not cut them off.” Sikorski said. He added that other European countries, including Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic, have also experienced similar attacks.
