Suspected Rail Sabotage: Poland Shuts Its Last Russian Consulate

Poland announced on Wednesday, on November 19th, that it will close down the last remaining Russian consulate on its territory and send several thousand soldiers to safeguard key infrastructure, in response to a railway-line explosion it accuses Moscow of orchestrating.

Poland—a major supporter of Kyiv’s defence against Russia—says two Ukrainians working with Moscow initiated the weekend blast on the Warsaw–Lublin railway line, which links the capital with the Ukrainian border.

At a news conference, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said the first step in response would be to close Russia’s final operating consulate, located in Gdańsk. Poland had already shut Russian consulates in Kraków and Poznań following previous allegations of sabotage.

“This was not only sabotage, but also an act of state terrorism,” Sikorski told lawmakers.

Moscow denies any involvement, dismissing the accusations as “Russophobia,” and said it would likewise restrict the presence of Polish diplomatic and consular staff in Russia.

Wiesław Kukuła, Poland’s army chief of staff, speaking alongside the defence minister, cautioned that the long winter nights and the Christmas season might be seen by Poland’s adversaries as an opportune moment for sabotage. Authorities plan to introduce a special app for citizens to report suspicious activity.

Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the minister overseeing intelligence services, said that beyond the two main Ukrainian suspects—who have fled to Belarus—several others have been detained in connection with the railway explosion.

Prosecutors’ spokesman Przemysław Nowak said that prosecutors have issued in absentia charges against the two Ukrainian men—identified as Oleksandr K. and Yevhenii I.—accusing them of committing sabotage on November 15th and 16th under instructions from Russian intelligence.