Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The former Russian consulate in the Polish city of Gdańsk, which Poland ordered to close in December but Russia has still not handed back, has had its electricity and heating cut off.
Moscow claims that it has legal right to the property, and has left a single member of staff there. But the local authorities reject that argument and are seeking to take back control of the building.
Broadcaster Radio Gdańsk first reported on Thursday morning that the former consulate’s electricity and heating had been cut off. Later in the day, the spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry, Maciej Wewiór, confirmed the news to the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
The newspaper said that the decision had been made by two public power suppliers, Energa and GPEC, because, despite continuing to occupy the building, the Russians have been refusing to pay the utility bills, with arrears now accumulating over several months.
Warsaw ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Gdańsk
The diplomats vacated the building but refused to hand it over, claiming that it belonged to them
They failed to pay for its maintenance
So the electricity and heating have just been cut offhttps://t.co/SS9AxDB9vS— Bartosz T. Wieliński 🇵🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇱 (@Bart_Wielinski) April 2, 2026
Last November, the Polish foreign ministry ordered the Gdańsk consulate to close in response to sabotage of a rail line in Poland by operatives working on behalf of Russia. Poland has also previously closed down Russia’s other two consulates in the country for similar reasons.
In December, Russia evacuated its diplomats from Gdańsk but 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.
Russia is refusing to hand over its consulate building in Gdańsk, despite Poland ordering the facility to close in response to last month's rail sabotage.
Moscow says it still has legal right to the property, a claim that is rejected by city hall https://t.co/EFGPdCFjd1
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 22, 2025
Gazeta Wyborcza reports that, after the consulate was closed, local officials attempted to take control of the building but were denied entry. The Russian foreign ministry sent a letter to the Gdańsk authorities saying that the property is owned by Russia.
“We would strongly advise the hotheads in Poland, apparently on the verge of blowing their top, to carefully consider all the potential consequences if anyone attempts to lay hands on Russian property,” said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in December, quoted by the TASS news agency.
“There have been plenty of examples of how Russia responds, and how painful it can be for those who commit unlawful acts against our country.”
In response, Gdańsk’s deputy mayor, Emilia Lodzińska, said that the city would launch legal action to reclaim the building. In January, the foreign ministry submitted a request to prosecutors to initiate proceedings for the surrender of the property, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
However, it could take “several years” until a final ruling on the claim is issued, lawyer Maciej Urbański told local newspaper Dziennik Bałtycki.
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.
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 conditionhttps://t.co/J9438EMMFK
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 21, 2025
In 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the municipal authorities in Warsaw seized a former Russian diplomatic compound that had likewise been claimed by Moscow as part of a long-running legal dispute.
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 similarly took control of a former school for the children of Russian diplomats that Moscow had refused to hand over despite a court order. In 2022, Poland’s State Forests likewise seized a property that Russia had refused to vacate despite failing to pay rent.
Warsaw has seized a building used by the Russian embassy as a high school for children of Russian diplomats.
The decision was met with anger from the Kremlin and threats of "harsh" consequenceshttps://t.co/OBpqTL84VB
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 2, 2023
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 without your support.
Main image credit: Piotr Wittman/gdansk.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
