Poland-Russia Relations ‘Have Deteriorated Completely’ Warsaw orders closure of Russia’s last consulate in wake of railroad sabotage
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, second right, visits site of the rail line Mika, that was damaged by sabotage, near Deblin, Poland, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/KPRM)
Poland’s foreign minister announced Wednesday that he will order the shutdown of the last remaining Russian consulate in the country after authorities linked two Ukrainian nationals working for Moscow to a railway explosion inside Poland. Radek Sikorski said he had repeatedly warned Russia that its diplomatic footprint would continue shrinking if it did not halt hostile activities against Poland, according to the Polish news agency PAP.
“This time we’re not just talking about subversion, as we have seen before,” Sikorski said. “This was an act of state terror, carried out with the clear intent to cause loss of life.” He added that Russia would receive official notification of the consulate’s closure within hours. Once completed, Russia will be left with only its embassy in Warsaw.
Moscow quickly signaled retaliation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, quoted by state agency RIA Novosti, said Russia will “reduce Poland’s diplomatic and consular presence in Russia” in response.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has condemned the weekend railway blast—on a line connecting Warsaw to the Ukrainian border—as “an unprecedented act of sabotage.” The explosion damaged track near Mika, roughly 60 miles southeast of the capital. In a separate incident the same weekend, power lines were destroyed near Pulawy, about 30 miles from Lublin in eastern Poland.
Asked about Sikorski’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said relations between the two countries “have deteriorated completely,” calling Poland’s move another sign of Warsaw’s intent to eliminate diplomatic ties altogether. “In this case, one can only express regret,” he told reporters.
Addressing parliament on Tuesday, Tusk said the two suspects had long-standing ties to Russian intelligence. Their identities are known to investigators but cannot yet be disclosed due to the active case. He added that both men had already fled Poland, crossing into Belarus.
Poland has previously ordered the shutdown of other Russian consulates. Earlier this year, the consulate in Krakow was closed after authorities concluded that a 2024 fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping center had been set on orders from the Russian intelligence service.
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