Poland says Russian secret service behind massive fire

12/5/2025 6:17

Russian secret services were

behind a massive fire that nearly completely destroyed a Warsaw

shopping centre in May 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk

said on Sunday after a year of investigation into the case.



"We already know for sure that the large fire on Marywilska

was the result of arson ordered by Russian services. The actions

were coordinated by a person staying in Russia. Some of the

perpetrators are already in custody, the rest have been

identified and are being sought," Tusk said on X.



Poland has been a target of sabotage actions, which

officials said have been part of a "hybrid war" being waged by

Russia to destabilize the functioning of countries that support

Ukraine in the war with Russia, involving tactics like arson and

cyberattacks.



Polish investigators are cooperating with authorities in

Lithuania, where some of the perpetrators also carried out

sabotage activities, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and Interior

Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said in a separate statement.



"We have in-depth knowledge of the order and course of

the arson and the way in which the perpetrators documented it.

Their actions were organized and directed by an identified

person staying in the Russian Federation," they said.



"The Polish authorities are determined to hold

accountable the perpetrators of the heinous acts of sabotage and

those who directed them."



In March, Lithuanian prosecutors accused Russia's

military intelligence of orchestrating an arson attack on an

IKEA store in Vilnius, which broke out three days before the

shopping centre fire in neighboring Poland.



Russia has denied involvement in the arson attacks.