Warsaw [Poland], May 12 (ANI): A huge fire that burned the largest shopping center in the Polish capital Warsaw to the ground last year was set deliberately by people acting on behalf of Russia, Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk said on Sunday, Politico reported.

European countries, particularly those in the east of the bloc, have been plagued by Russian espionage in recent years, as per Politico. Arson attacks are another common tool used as part of Russia's hybrid warfare strategy.

'We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by Russian special services,' Tusk said.

'Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and [are being] sought. We will get you all!' he added, Politico quoted.

Tusk had said in March that evidence from Lithuania suggested Russia was to blame for the attack, in line with suspicions in Poland, but his statement on Sunday was unequivocal in assigning responsibility to Russia.

https://x.com/donaldtusk/status/1901586430649905585

The Lithuanian investigation found that a May 9, 2024 arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, as well as the May 12, 2024 Marywilska fire, were set by Ukrainian citizens acting on behalf of Russia, Tusk wrote in March. A week earlier, Polish prosecutors had said a Belarusian refugee was responsible, as per Politico.

Nobody was injured in the fire in Warsaw.

Earlier on November 16, 2022, Poland did not have any conclusive evidence on who fired the missile that caused an explosion in the Przedwodow village near Ukraine's border, President Andrzej Duda had said.

In an address, Andrzej Duda said that the missile was 'most likely produced in Russia,' CNN reported.

During his address from the Bureau of National Security in Warsaw, Duda said that Poland is working in a 'very calm manner,' as per the CNN report. Duda announced that Poland has raised the alert status for its military.

Duda stated that NATO allies have affirmed support for the United States. Duda stated that the US will be sending experts to conduct an investigation at the site of the explosion as part of a joint operation.

'We are working calmly and in a very calm manner,' CNN quoted Andrzej Duda as saying. (ANI)