The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that on 14 July 2023, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Moscow received a diplomatic note from the Russian Federation concerning the withdrawal of the consent to the functioning of the Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Smolensk, given on 27 June 2011. The Consular Agency will close down on 31 August 2023, and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moscow will take over its tasks.

As the sites of a murder of nearly 22,000 Polish citizens by the NKVD in 1940 and the plane crash in 2010, Katyn and Smolensk bear a special, symbolic meaning to all Poles. The decision taken by the Russian authorities is a proof of increasingly bold attempts to distort history and negate responsibility for crimes perpetrated by the Russian state and specific, known by their names, citizens of that country.

The crimes committed today in Ukraine are a continuation of this barbaric practice. We believe that there will come a time when the Russian Federation and its authorities will finally respect historical truth and settle accounts with their past. Only this way will they cease to pose a threat to the world.

One of the major tasks of the Polish Consular Agency in Smolensk was exercising ongoing supervision over the site of the Smolensk crash and the Polish War Cemetery in Katyn. The Agency provided support to Polish pilgrims who regularly visited the burial and memorial sites which are important to the Polish side. Also the descendants of the citizens of the Soviet Union murdered by the NKVD who had been buried alongside Poles could, thanks to the functioning of the Polish Consular Agency, learn the truth about Soviet crimes and better understand the history of their country.

The decision by the authorities of the Russian Federation is a highly symbolic gesture, as well as another hostile and incomprehensible act aimed at preventing Polish diplomatic missions and consular posts from functioning. The Republic of Poland reserves the right to take appropriate steps in response. At the same time, the MFA highlights that Polish consular services will make every effort so that Polish citizens wishing to pay homage to the murdered or needing urgent consular assistance will continue to receive all necessary support.