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Poland summons Russian envoy over threats against diplomats in Kyiv

26.05.2026 22:00
Poland summoned Russia's ambassador on Tuesday after Moscow warned foreigners and diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of a planned series of strikes on military and industrial targets in the Ukrainian capital.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Russia's threats against civilian sites, including government buildings and diplomatic missions, were unacceptable.

"We do not accept such blackmail and intimidation," Sikorski told broadcaster Polsat News.

Russia carried out a large-scale attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Sunday, killing four people and injuring about 100 civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Ahead of the strikes, Russia’s foreign ministry warned that its military was preparing a series of strikes against military and industrial facilities in Kyiv and advised foreign diplomats to leave the city as soon as possible.

Poland’s foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór said Russian Ambassador Georgy Mikhno was summoned to the ministry on Tuesday to receive Warsaw's protest.

Sikorski said the Russian diplomat was told that “threatening obviously civilian targets, such as government buildings or diplomatic missions, is unacceptable."

Sikorski added: "If our embassy suffers damage, as it has in the past, we will regard that as a deliberate and intentional decision."

He accused Russia of trying to intimidate Ukrainians, Ukrainian authorities and foreign nationals legally residing in the country.

Sikorski noted that Poland’s minister for funds and regional policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, travelled to Kyiv on Tuesday despite the Russian warnings.

He also recalled that after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland kept its ambassador in Kyiv even as several other countries evacuated diplomatic personnel.

"I can praise the previous government when praise is due," Sikorski said, referring to former Polish Ambassador Bartosz Cichocki remaining in Kyiv at the start of the war.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wewiór said Poland coordinated its response with European partners, several of whom also summoned Russian diplomats over the warnings.

Germany’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had summoned Russia’s ambassador following Moscow’s appeal for Western diplomatic missions to leave Kyiv.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said the European Union had also summoned Russia's chargé d’affaires over the threats and had no plans to withdraw its diplomatic mission from Kyiv.

In a statement issued on Monday, Poland’s foreign ministry warned that any strike on Polish diplomatic facilities in Ukraine would be treated as "deliberate and intentional."

The ministry also said that Russia's actions further undermined its credibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and called on Moscow to "immediately cease its unjustified and unlawful aggression" in Ukraine.

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Source: IAR, PAP, Polsat News, gov.pl