Russia vows retaliation after Poland seizes embassy school

Xiaofei Xu and Darya Tarasova, CNN
April 30, 2023

City officials put up a warning sign on the gate of a Russian embassy in Warsaw, Poland on April 29.
City officials put up a warning sign on the gate of a Russian embassy in Warsaw, Poland on April 29. (Jaap Arriens/AFP/Getty Images)

CNN — Russia says it will retaliate after Polish authorities seized the Russian Embassy school in Warsaw, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Polish police and staff from the Warsaw city hall entered the campus Saturday morning, asking employees to leave the premises, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The ministry described the action as “controversial, illegal and provocative.”

CNN has reached out to the Polish authorities for comment.

But a Polish foreign ministry spokesman told Reuters that while Russia had a right to protest, they were acting within the law.

“Our opinion, which has been confirmed by the courts, is that this property belongs to the Polish state and was taken by Russia illegally,” Lukasz Jasina said.

The school will continue to operate from a different part of the Russian embassy, RIA added, quoting Russia’s ambassador to Poland Sergei Andreev.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has been a staunch ally to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.