Belarusian Accused Of Setting Fire To Supermarket In Warsaw

• 12.03.2025, 13:21

He worked for Russian intelligence.

Belarusian citizen Stsiapan K. is accused of setting fire to a multi-story construction store in Warsaw. The incident occurred on April 14, 2024. The man acted on instructions from Russian intelligence, the Polish prosecutor's office said.

A part of the OBI supermarket on Radzymińska Street burned down during the fire. The damage was estimated at more than 3.5 million zlotys (about 900 thousand dollars at the current exchange rate).

According to the prosecution, on April 13, the Belarusian spilled a flammable liquid in the store and left devices for remote arson. They went off on the night of April 14, causing a fire. Stsiapan K. himself filmed the fire on his phone, and some of these materials later appeared on Russian propaganda websites.

“In addition, it was established that the suspect Stsiapan K. committed the said arson, acting in the interests of foreign intelligence, i.e. the intelligence of the Russian Federation, and on the instructions of the Russian special services,” the prosecutor's office emphasized.

The man faces 10 years to life imprisonment for the charge of sabotage in the interests of foreign intelligence and a terrorist crime.

The prosecutor's office says that the man is a defendant in an investigation into an organized criminal group engaged in recruitment and organization of sabotage. He was also charged with espionage and participation in an organized criminal group.