this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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135
Series of fires across Poland, Russian sabotage suspected (www.euractiv.com)
submitted 1 day ago by Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org to c/europe@feddit.org
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Archived

A third major fire in less than a week broke out in Poland on Monday, prompting the authorities to suspect that the incidents may be linked to hybrid operations by Russian intelligence services.

The latest fire broke out in a warehouse in Siemianowice Ślaskie in southern Poland. This follows a fire in a residential building in Ząbki, near Warsaw, on 1 July, and a fire in a production hall in Mińsk Mazowiecki, around 35 km from the capital, on Sunday.

Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on Monay that in light of Russia’s hybrid tactics, the government is treating all major fires with increased scrutiny.

"Since January 2024, we have seen several attempted acts of sabotage. Every significant incident, fire, or attempted arson is being assessed as a potential act of sabotage," he said during a press conference.

The suspicion of Russian involvement intensified after a massive shopping center in Marywilska, Warsaw, burned down in May. The government later said it had evidence linking Russian intelligence to the incident. In response, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski ordered the closure of Russia’s consulate in Kraków.

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[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

An article was posted in this community 3 days ago titled The Wild Russian Plot to Burn a London Restaurant and Kidnap Its Owner by the New York Times about how "a criminal gang in Britain was directed to target Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a dissident Russian who owns Hide, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair". This is what I commented on that post:

Just 2 days ago there were two articles posted in this community. One called Russian propaganda group Storm-1516 is using identities of real journalists to target Moldova, Armenia, and France and the other by AP news titled Intelligence officials worry a sabotage campaign blamed on Russia is growing more dangerous which was about a fire at a warehouse in east London storing equipment for Ukraine, plotted by Russian linked to the secret service. They wrote the following: "The fire is one of more than 70 incidents linked to Russia that The Associated Press has documented since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022". I earlier wrote comments on posts some of those 'incidents', this is what I commented below the two posted articles i linked above:

3 days ago someone posted a link to an article by The Insider titled Polish researchers trace Baltic GPS disruptions to Russian military sites in Kaliningrad about finding the source of navigational system failures (by either spoofing or jamming coordinates) on thousands of aircraft and ships in the baltic sea and the airspace of the surrounding countries. This is what I commented on that post:

Yesterday someone posted a link to an article by france24 titled The church by the airport: Inside Russia’s suspected spy activities in Sweden on how Russia is suspected to use the Moscow Patriarchate church as a platform for espionage. Recently I commented on a few posts about Kremlin-related activities in Europe. Below is a copy of what I commented the last time:

Yesterday someone posted a link to an article on news.err.ee titled Arson attack on Ukrainian restaurant in Estonia ordered by Russian intelligence, I decided it would make sense to copy my comment on that article here.

5 days ago someone posted link to an article by united24media titled Russian Saboteurs Reportedly Torch German Military Trucks in Erfurt in Brazen Attack on NATO Soil. I thought it'd be nice to copy my comment on that post.

Yesterday someone posted a link to an article in The Sun, it's headline was Britain’s migrant crisis being fuelled by Putin’s Russia and other hostile states in secret plot to destabilise UK; I feel I might just as well copy and paste my comment to that post:

The amount of shit Russia pulls without getting any kind repercussion truly astonishes me.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

target Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a dissident Russian who owns Hide, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair

So funny, such a "dissident" to reach there in Yeltsin and Putin years.

[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not sure i get what you mean, why put dissident between quotation marks? Do you doubt he is?

He was a member of the Right Cause political party and was expected to become chairman of its Moscow section. Chichvarkin currently lives in London, from where he has campaigned against corruption in Russia and president Vladimir Putin personally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Chichvarkin

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

He's a Russian businessman who became one in the last 35 years. He's "dissident" in the sense that he picked the wrong side.

Khodorkovsky's close associate has been named by French, I think, police as the main suspect for ordering an attack on a Russian opposition figure recently.

Look up Navalny's organization's opinions of all those people. Navalny was a controversial figure for many intents and purposes, and I really hope he didn't return to Russia because of getting desperate and tired of idiots like me mentioning those controversies. His organization might not parrot the western narratives the way Khodor and others do, but it is genuine.

[–] MisterMoo@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Article 5.

[–] BaroqueInMind@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If USA can summon Art-5 over fake WMDs, sure as fuck Poland can over this event.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago

Can? Yes. However article 5 only demands countries to bring what they believe is necessary to defend the country that invoked article 5. So if the US sends a firefighting truck and the crew to man it, they could claim to have done enough.

Also for the Iraq invasion, it was easy and there was little to no doubt that the "coalition of the willing" among them Poland and other NATO members, would roll in on the back of the US. Poland got itself access to some Iraqi oilfields it could exploit. That was more like a viking raid on a village whose guard is just the local farmer youth.

I think when it comes to the current situation many countries are reluctant to put NATO to the test, as they are scared for NATO to be revealed to be divided and weak.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Would be the other way, if USA can use it over fakes, then its actuality for real purposes is less certain.

[–] Bloomcole@crazypeople.online 0 points 4 hours ago

you're insane

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

sigh

I hope you are currently enlisted in your army or in the reserve?

[–] BaroqueInMind@piefed.social 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

What? Why does that matter if he/she is or isn't? Please elaborate.

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 1 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

I am just sick of civilians crying for war without having their own asses put out in the fire.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

To be fair in case of nuclear war civilians will put their asses in the fire.

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

In case of nuclear war everything will burn to ashes, this is the reason why there will be no nuclear war.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Do you think world leaders like Trump, Putin and Xi have the same opinion as you on this? Are nuclear weapons just for show? And if so, why are Israel and the US so nervous about nukes in Iran?

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

~~Trump~~ Trumps handlers, Putin, Xi? Absolutely.

Chomeini and his fellows? Well, this is another story... religious fanatics don't tend to work with the same OS than everybody else...

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Don't you consider Putin and Russians a bit of fanatics with all their WW2 worship?

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

As far as i can tell, yes, they are fanatics... but they want their realm on this world, not in some vague paradise in afterlife.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Your opinion differs from what Putin says("we'll go to heaven and they'll just die") or does(lowering requirements to using nukes). Hope you are right, though I don't want to find out if you are or not.

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Are you polish? Are you on the border or victim of russian agression?

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

German, spend quiet a few years in the german army and currently in reserve.

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Then you should know that in war the homefront is as essential as the fighting front. Without the home front there wont be any weapons, ammo, rations, aso..

What branch were you in and what rank? As military personal you swore to protect democracy, and the freedom. We are already at war with russia and china and have been for a long time.

Plus lets be honest, russia lost its entire army in ukraine. They cant even hold that bit of land. It wont be a fight against them.

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Without the home front there wont be any weapons, ammo, rations, aso…

This is something i personaly see as a somewhat lame excuse... if you call for war, be ready to fight it.

What branch were you in and what rank?

Heer (so, the infantry) and Stabsunteroffizier (i think this would be equivalent to a lance seargant).

[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I get your point, but the other extreme (be silent if your not willing or able to pick up a gun) is also not great. Don't want to argue with you, but point out this should be about finding the right middle ground.

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I think the best middle ground would be if all the guys (i somehow presume its mostly guys) in the net crying for military intervention, for invoking article 5 and so on would contemplate a bit more about how awful war is... and that a conflict with an enemy like russia - how weak they may be compared to its sovjet peak - will be much different from the conflicts the west has seen in the last ~30 years (not to mention the changes in technology).

Maybe campaign for more support for ukraine, maybe campaign for better support for your countries military... but if you call for actual war and you are a fighting age male: Be ready to enlist.

[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

If you're gonna continue promote this unpopular opinion, you could add 'and if you're not: prepare to lose your son/brother/father/male of fighting age friend. And either way: prepare for a loss in income and availability of food and other essential goods'. Best of luck.

[–] the_wiz@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Well, this all would be true if a bigger war breaks out.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Without the home front there wont be any weapons, ammo, rations, aso…

Your countries are part of an empire, their possible home front is intentionally limited for these. Due to US unreliability they are changing, but it's not yet done.

[–] Bloomcole@crazypeople.online -2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

LOL you want to start WW3 bcs some shitty Russophobic Euro outlet baselessly blames Russia for some fires?
If you're so fanatic go join the ukros, that will take care of it.

[–] Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Russophobia is like anime tiddies. It's not real but it still gets my dick hard.

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I tend to believe them. And I know it's always hard to substantiate claims of Russian sabotage even though it's undeniably happening. But I'd still like to see how they argue that Russia is behind this.

[–] Bloomcole@crazypeople.online -2 points 4 hours ago

lol the ukro avatar believes them

[–] sad_detective_man@leminal.space 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

about how many weeks out are we from "Nazi gangs" being discovered in Poland that Russia must invade to protect them from?

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago

Probably zero. But an actual invasion is unlikely. That would be like a bully choosing to attack the strongest kid, not the weakest.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Poland has a military.

[–] SebaDC@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago

"we condemn this act of war against us! Please, stop doing this!"