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Poland has launched legal action to regain possession of the former Russian consulate building in the city of Gdańsk, which it ordered to close last year. Russia has refused to vacate the property, leaving a single member of staff to occupy it.
In response to the new lawsuit, Moscow has warned that it will implement “painful retaliatory measures” if the Polish authorities take action against the property, which Russia claims it has the legal right to use.
On Monday, Wojciech Murawski of the General Counsel to the Republic of Poland, the body responsible for protecting the legal interests of the Polish state, confirmed to the Fakt newspaper that on Friday last week they had filed a lawsuit seeking the surrender of the building.
He said that the General Counsel has been gathering and analysing evidence since receiving a request to prepare a lawsuit on 26 January and had also confirmed that the building still has not been vacated.
In November, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski ordered that the consulate close and all diplomats there leave Poland in response to sabotage of a rail line in Poland by operatives working on behalf of Russia. Moscow’s other consulates in Poland were previously shut down for similar reasons.
However, while Russia evacuated its diplomats from Gdańsk in December, it refused to hand over the building itself, arguing that it has a legal right to the property stemming from an agreement reached shortly after World War Two. It said it would leave a single employee there to “ensure the inviolability” of the building.
Gdańsk officials call Russia’s position “incomprehensible”, saying that available documentation does not support Moscow’s claims. According to the land and mortgage registers, the building is owned by the Polish state treasury. In April, Poland cut electricity and heating to the building.
On Sunday, two days after the General Counsel’s lawsuit had been filed, the Russian foreign ministry said it would respond forcefully to any action targeting Russian diplomatic facilities in Poland.
“If any attacks are made on Russian properties in Poland, including the building of the Russian consulate general in Gdańsk, the Russian side will be forced to implement rather painful retaliatory measures,” Alexei Klimov, director of the consular department at Russia’s foreign ministry, told state news agency RIA Novosti.
His comments echoed earlier remarks by Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who in December said Poland should “carefully consider all the potential consequences if anyone attempts to lay hands on Russian property”.
Electricity and heating have been cut off at the former Russian consulate in Gdańsk, which Poland ordered to close in December but Russia has refused to hand back.
It left a single employee to occupy the building and has refused entry to Polish officials https://t.co/2wZqPcHRxe
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 3, 2026
Separately, the local authorities in Gdańsk last year launched enforcement proceedings to execute a court ruling from March 2025 that ordered Russia to pay debts owed for use of the building. They have also been working with the foreign ministry to assert those claims.
Gdańsk estimates that Russia’s unpaid fees for using the building between 2013 and 2023 amount to around 5.5 million zloty (€1.3 million), with interest adding another 3 million zloty. Moscow insists it does not have to pay as it has the right to use the building for free.
The city of Warsaw has taken similar action against former Russian diplomatic properties. In 2022, it seized a former Russian diplomatic compound also claimed by Moscow.
Warsaw had initially hoped to hand over the building to the local Ukrainian community. However, that proved unfeasible due to the poor condition of the site. It will instead be redeveloped into housing for municipal employees.
In 2023, Warsaw took control of a former school for children of Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to hand it over despite a court order. Poland’s State Forests also seized a Russian-occupied property in 2022 over unpaid rent and non-compliance with eviction orders.
Warsaw has announced it will renovate a former Russian diplomatic compound known as “Spyville” and turn it into flats for public servants.
The city had hoped to hand it over to the Ukrainian community but could not owing to the building's poor condition https://t.co/J9438EMMFK
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 21, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do…
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