Poland demands that Belarus extradite Ukrainians suspected of sabotage
Photo: Sabotage on railway lines under investigation in Poland (Getty Images)
Poland summoned the acting chargé d’affaires of Belarus to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and handed him a note demanding the extradition of two Ukrainians suspected of carrying out sabotage on railway lines, according to Maciej Wewiór, spokesperson for the Polish Foreign Ministry, as reported by PAP.
Wewiór stated that the note contains a call to "extradite two Ukrainian citizens suspected of committing terrorist acts, at the request of the Russian Federation’s intelligence services in connection with the incidents in Mika and Gołąb."
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also added that the Russian General Consulate in Gdańsk must close by midnight on 23 December. Consulate staff are required to leave Poland by that time.
This will mark the closure of the last Russian consulate in Poland. Its authorization to operate had previously been revoked by Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
Sabotage in Poland
Recently, several acts of sabotage occurred on railway lines in Poland. In particular, a section of tracks leading to the Polish-Ukrainian border was damaged.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that these were acts of sabotage. According to him, two Ukrainian citizens are suspected of the attacks — they arrived in Poland from Belarus and managed to flee back after the sabotage.
Polish law enforcement authorities are confident that the Ukrainians were hired by Russian intelligence services.
Against this background, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that Russia deliberately recruited Ukrainian citizens for such operations, aiming to shift the blame and disrupt Western support for Ukrainian soldiers.
