Russia provokes Poland by illegally occupying a building on Polish territory

Relations between Poland and Russia, already severely strained after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are set to deteriorate even further.

Russia's new war against Poland: more than 1,400 Russian hoaxes against Poles
Russia justifies the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 by hiding the pact between Hitler and Stalin

Poland ordered the closure of the last Russian consulate in the country

Following the recent railway sabotage perpetrated by Russian intelligence in Poland, specifically on the section connecting Warsaw with Dorohusk (a route used for the delivery of Polish military aid to Ukraine), on November 20, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced an order to close the Russian consulate in Gdańsk, in the north of the country. The order to close the consulate was set for midnight on December 23. That is to say, the eviction should have already taken place hours ago.

The Gdańsk consulate was the last Russian consulate in Poland. Following the Polish government's announcement, Russia's diplomatic representation in the Central European country will be limited to the Russian embassy in Warsaw. Previously, Russia ordered the closure of the Polish consulates in Kaliningrad on August 29 and in Irkutsk on December 30.

Russia refuses to leave the building it occupies in Gdańsk

Poland has accepted the closure of these Polish consulates. However, Russia has refused to vacate what was until now its consulate in Gdańsk. The Russian embassy in Warsaw has informed the Gdańsk City Council that "an administrative and technical employee of the embassy will be housed in the current Russian consulate." However, after having its diplomatic status revoked, the building is no longer protected by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and therefore legally ceases to be a diplomatic mission. It is a building on Polish territory.

This new Russian provocation has generated outrage among Poles, especially after it became known that the building is owned by the Polish Public Treasury and Russia has not paid anything for the property for years, not even the municipal taxes, which have been demanded by the Gdańsk City Council for more than a decade, without the Russian consulate even responding to the requests. According to the Polish news agency PAP, "Gdańsk estimated the arrears for the years 2013-2023 at approximately 5.5 million zlotys, plus another 3 million zlotys with interest. The case went to court, which ordered Russia to pay almost 400,000 zlotys of the outstanding installments."

The Gdańsk City Council will take the case to court

In statements reported by PAP news agency, Gdańsk Deputy Mayor Emilia Lodzińska announced that the city will take legal action: "According to information received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we know that, in the event of a negative reaction from the Russian side regarding the proposed procedure for the transfer of these properties, it will be necessary to submit a request to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Poland to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Public Treasury for the release of these properties and, after obtaining a court ruling in favor of the Polish side, initiate legal proceedings leading to their seizure."

The precedents of Sobieskiego 100 and Kielecka 45

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Eight years ago, I told you here about Sobieskiego 100, a building illegally occupied by Russia in Warsaw that was practically abandoned, but with a security service paid for by the Russian embassy. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland announced the recovery of the building, which passed into the hands of the Warsaw City Council, in order to use it to house Ukrainian refugees. In May 2023, Poland also recovered another building illegally occupied by Russia, at 45 Kielecka Street, which housed a Russian secondary school. In both cases, the Polish authorities had to wait for a court ruling before they could take possession of the buildings illegally occupied by Russia.

UPDATED 8:59 PM: The Russians have finally closed their consulate in Gdańsk. They left lowering the Russian flag to the sound of their national anthem and removing the consulate's plaque, although I haven't found any information about the building's condition after this ceremony. Here's the video:

In Gdańsk, the last Russian Consulate General in Poland has closed.

Good riddance 👏 pic.twitter.com/w5eCx9Cu0E

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) December 23, 2025

---

Image: Google Street View.