Poland’s Foreign Ministry stated that it is closing Russia’s Consulate General in Gdańsk — the last one in the country

Poland is closing Russia’s last remaining consulate general in the country — in Gdańsk.

This was announced by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.

“I have decided to withdraw consent for the operation of the last Russian consulate in Gdańsk,” Sikorski said during a speech in the Sejm.

At the same time, he added that Poland does not plan to break off diplomatic relations with Russia — just as “other countries do not do so in whose territory acts of terror or sabotage have taken place.”

The diplomatic mission in Gdańsk was Russia’s last consulate general in Poland. The embassy in Warsaw still has a consular section, but unlike a consulate general it does not have a separate diplomatic status.

In response, the Kremlin stated that “relations with Poland have completely degraded.”

“This is probably a manifestation of this degradation, a desire by the Polish authorities to reduce to zero any possibilities for consular or diplomatic relations,” said Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that in response to the closure of the consulate general in Gdańsk, Russia “will reduce Poland’s diplomatic and consular presence” in the country.

On 15–16 November, two incidents occurred on a railway line in Poland leading to the Ukrainian border. First, track damage was discovered near the town of Żyrardów (Zhichin is likely a typo) outside Warsaw. Later, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported a second incident — an explosion on a section of railway on the route from Warsaw to Lublin, which is critically important for delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Speaking in the Sejm, Tusk said that two Ukrainian citizens suspected of carrying out the sabotage had cooperated with Russian intelligence services. Both, he said, had entered Poland from the territory of Belarus.