The Polish prosecutor’s office seized money from the accounts of the Russian embassy and trade mission. It was declared Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev. According to him, we are talking about large sums in Polish zlotys and US dollars.
Andreev said that the funds from the accounts of the embassy and the commercial representation at the Santander bank were transferred to the accounts of the Polish prosecutor’s office. A notification about this has been delivered to the Russian diplomatic mission. Following this, Santander Bank announced that it had stopped cooperating with the embassy and closed the accounts, the ambassador added. He considered the incident a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The accounts of the Russian Embassy in Poland were blocked in March 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. The reason for the blocking was the suspicion of the Polish authorities that the money from the Russian embassy accounts could be used to finance terrorism or launder illegally obtained funds. In response, the Russian side also froze the accounts of the Polish Embassy in Moscow.
In addition, Poland seized several real estate from the Russian diplomatic mission, including the building where the diplomats lived and a recreation center near Warsaw.
The Polish edition of Rzeczpospolita reported on May 12 last year that around 5 million zlotys, or $1.1 million, were blocked in the accounts of the Russian Embassy in Poland.
Poland is one of the most active opponents of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. It provides significant military assistance to Ukraine, both within NATO and independently. The country has hosted several million Ukrainian refugees, more than any other. Demonstrations against the war take place regularly in Poland. In May last year, Russian Ambassador Andreev was sprayed with red paint in protest.
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