Poland confirms Russia behind fire that destroyed Warsaw's biggest shopping center

Poland's government says it is now certain that Russia was behind the fire that last year destroyed Warsaw's largest shopping center, Marywilska 44. It also says it has detained some of those responsible.

“We already know for sure that the large fire at Marywilska was the result of arson ordered by the Russian security services,” announced Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday evening, just before today's first anniversary of the fire.

“The activities were coordinated by a person in Russia,” he added. “Some of the allegations are already in custody, the rest have been identified and are being sought. We will catch them all!”

Tusk's announcement was immediately followed by a joint statement from interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak and justice minister Adam Bodnar.

They noted that dozens of prosecutors and police have been investigating the fire over the last year, in cooperation with the authorities in Lithuania, “where some of the [same] prosecutions also carried out sabotage activities.”

“Based on the evidence collected, we know that the fire was the result of arson committed at the request of the Russian security services,” wrote Siemoniak and Bodnar. “We have in-depth knowledge about the course of the arson, as well as the way in which the allegations document it.”

In the early hours of 12 May 2024, a fire broke out at Marywilska 44 that spread quickly and, by the time it had been brought under control a few hours later, had destroyed 90% of the premises . As the center was closed during the night, no casualties resulted from the fire.

Little more than a week after the fire, Tusk had already declared it was “likely” that Russia was behind it. Earlier this year, he revealed that evidence from Lithuania also pointed to Russia's involvement.

The fire was part of a series of acts of sabotage in Poland and other countries in the region that the authorities have blamed on Russia, whose intelligence services recruited and hired people living in those countries – often Ukrainian and Belarusian immigrants – to carry out the attacks.

In March this year, Poland charged a Belarusian national , named only as Stepan K. under Polish privacy law, with carrying out a terrorist arson attack in Warsaw on behalf of Russia. They noted that the fire was ignited in a very similar manner to the one at Marywilska, which took place just a month later.

They also revealed that the case against Stepan K. was linked to an investigation into other arson attacks on large stores not only in Poland but elsewhere in central and eastern Europe.

Last year, Poland ordered one of Russia's consulates to close and its staff to leave the country in response to what it says are acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare being carried out by Moscow.

Main image credit: Dariusz Borowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl