By Olha Hembik | 2025-08-12

WARSAW -- Poland has issued its starkest warning yet to citizens in Russia: steer clear, and if you're there, come home.

In a July 22 statement, the Foreign Ministry cited the war in Ukraine and Moscow's designation of Poland as a "hostile state" as reasons for the alert.

It also warned that direct consular assistance is becoming increasingly difficult, urging residents to leave "using any available commercial and private means" unless they have no choice but to stay.

A hybrid war

Polish consulates in Russia face new restrictions because of "ongoing reductions in the Polish diplomatic and consular staff," the Polish Foreign Ministry said.

Russia revoked authorization for two Polish consulates general. The Saint Petersburg mission closed January 10 after Russia withdrew its consent for operations and declared three Polish diplomats persona non grata. The Kaliningrad post will close August 29 for the same reason.

Moscow called the moves retaliation for Poland's closure of the Russian consulates general in Poznań and Krakow. Poland shuttered the facilities after accusing Russian diplomats of sabotage. Activists now want the last Russian consulate, in Gdańsk, closed, citing Moscow's hybrid war against Poland.

The Polish Foreign Ministry warned the closures will limit its ability to respond to crises. If "the security situation deteriorates sharply," the ministry said, evacuating Polish citizens could become difficult or impossible. Risks could include border closures or "other unforeseen circumstances."

Ukrainian groups in Poland say such concerns are long-standing.

"Since 2014, and especially since 2022, we have not considered the Russian Federation a safe place for anyone," Oleksandr Pestrikov, an expert at the Ukrainian House in Warsaw, told Kontur, citing Russia's annexation of Crimea, occupation of Donbas and the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Therefore, we find such reminders from the Polish Foreign Ministry to be very valuable."

False accusations

Poles in Russia could be mobilized for military service in Ukraine, the Polish Foreign Ministry warned, noting that under Russian law, dual nationals are treated solely as Russian citizens.

"As things stand, an announcement by the Russian authorities of a military mobilization can also apply to dual citizens," the ministry's official website read.

Piotr Kulpa, a former Polish deputy labor minister, linked the warning to Russia's alleged role in arson attacks and other sabotage in Poland and the European Union. He said the diplomatic conflict is likely to escalate and accused Moscow of using false charges against Poles in Russia as a tactic.

"There were many arson attacks in Poland, and the authorities got on the Russians' trail. So they're going to take action, and [Russia] will enact countermeasures," he told Kontur.

Kulpa said Russia has "a need to catch victims," which is why the ministry is warning Poles not to become "like hostages."

He dismissed the idea that Poles in Russia would willingly join its military. Fighting for Moscow against Ukraine, he said, would be seen in Poland as "unequivocally" traitorous and "absurd."

Almost a Gulag

Mykhailo Strelnikov, founder of the Museum of Victory over Despotism in Poland, said Russia is seeking to enlist dual nationals and other foreigners to offset heavy battlefield losses while avoiding a formal mobilization.

"The Russians are complaining about the 'meat grinder assaults.' After the last one near Pokrovsk, there were 500 people left in the [Russian] brigade. That's just 10 percent of the brigade that survived," he told Kontur.

Strelnikov said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has no way out" but is conducting a covert mobilization to avoid political backlash.

He warned that Poles and other foreigners in Russia face broader dangers as authorities "tighten the screws" and push the country toward the terror of the 1930s, when arrests and executions were carried out based on ethnicity.

Strelnikov cited a new law allowing the Federal Security Service to operate its own pretrial detention facilities, calling them "practically a Gulag” aimed at extracting confessions and isolating detainees.

He recalled how a relative, a warehouse bookkeeper, was executed in the Soviet Union after someone reported that "a man with a Polish last name" had asked about the harvest, leading to espionage charges. The man was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

Strelnikov said the denunciation system has returned, warning that even a neighbor can accuse someone.

"This isn't just an appeal by the Polish Foreign Ministry," he said. "It's common sense -- people need to flee Russia right now. Things will get even worse later."