Polish Consulate ceases operations in Russia's Smolensk

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has announced that its consular office in the city of Smolensk, Russia, has ceased operations since 31 August.

Source: Polish Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The closing ceremony was attended by Krzysztof Krajewski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Russian Federation. The Polish diplomatic mission in the city has been in operation since 10 April 2012.

From now on, the tasks performed by the Smolensk consulate, including the supervision of the Smolensk disaster site and the Polish military cemetery in Katyn, will be handled by the Polish Embassy in Moscow.

The Polish MFA noted that the decision of the Russian authorities had caused a decisive protest on the part of the Polish Foreign Ministry.

Background: 

• Earlier, the Polish MFA reacted to the decision of the Russian authorities to close the Polish consulate in Smolensk.
• "As the sites of the murder of almost 22,000 Polish citizens by the NKVD (the Soviet punitive agency – ed.) in 1940 and the plane crash in 2010, Katyn and Smolensk have a special, symbolic meaning for all Poles. The decision made by the Russian authorities is proof of increasingly audacious attempts to distort history and absolve the Russian state and specific, known by name, citizens of this country of responsibility for the crimes committed by the Russian state," the Polish Foreign Ministry stressed.
• Earlier, Russia reportedly decided to close the Polish consulate in Smolensk.
• The Russian Federation claims this was a response to Warsaw's "unfriendly anti-Russian actions, in particular, the seizure of the building housing the secondary school at the Russian Embassy in favour of the state".

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!