Russia's ambassador to Poland on Monday accused the Polish authorities of seizing Russian diplomatic property in Warsaw as the two countries' already fraught relations have soured further over Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.
Ambassador Sergey Andreev was referring to a decrepit Communist-era apartment building that Warsaw's mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, said would be used to house Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia's military intervention in their country.
"This morning, bailiffs came to our diplomatic property at 100 Sobieskiego Street in Warsaw and ordered the transfer of the building to the Polish state treasury on behalf of Warsaw City Hall," Russia's RIA news agency quoted Andreev as saying.
"Polish representatives cut off the locks to the gate and...have essentially occupied the facility," Andreev said.
Trzaskowski wrote on Twitter on Monday that the property, which used to house Soviet diplomats and is known to locals as Szpiegowo ("Spyville"), had officially been transferred to the city.
Poland's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Russian ambassador's statement but said Monday that it welcomed the seizure of the property by the city of Warsaw and the planned transfer of the building to state ownership.
Russia has declared 45 Polish embassy and consulate staff "persona non grata" in retaliation for Warsaw's expulsion of 45 Russian diplomats from Poland, Moscow's foreign ministry said on Friday. Poland said in March that the 45 Russian diplomats were suspected of working for Russian intelligence.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Rafał Trzaskowski / Facebook