Polish authorities on Sunday accused Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a large shopping center in the capital, Warsaw, last year.
Since Russia’s February 2022 offensive against Ukraine, Poland — a loyal ally of Kyiv — claims to be the target of sabotage attempts which it blames on Russia.
A fire in May last year completely destroyed a large shopping center in Warsaw and the 1,400 small businesses it housed, most of them owned by members of the Vietnamese community.
Photo: AP
Poland immediately launched an investigation, but had until now refrained from blaming Moscow.
“We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media.
The Polish Ministry of Justice and Ministry of the Interior and Administration in a joint statement on Sunday said that some of the alleged perpetrators were already in custody, while others had been identified, but were still at large.
“Their actions were organized and directed by a specific person residing in the Russian Federation,” the statement said, adding that they were cooperating with Lithuania, “where some of the perpetrators also carried out acts of diversion.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has detained and convicted several individuals suspected of sabotage on behalf of the Russian intelligence services, accused of assaults, arson or attempted arson.
Poland in May last year imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow’s “involvement” in a “hybrid war.”
Five months later, Warsaw ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, accusing Moscow of orchestrating “sabotage attempts.”
Poland in December last year said that it was willing to close all Russian consulates in Poland if acts of “terrorism” continued.
Russia closed the Polish consulate in Saint Petersburg in January in retaliation.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS