- A Polish police commander was slightly injured after a gift from Ukraine exploded.
- Polish authorities said the gift came from a head of Ukraine’s law enforcement and rescue services.
- Poland said on Thursday it had asked Ukraine for an explanation.
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Poland is asking Ukraine for answers after a Ukrainian official’s gift to a top Polish police commander exploded near the latter’s office, authorities said on Thursday.
Jarosław Szymczyk, the head of Poland’s police force, was slightly injured by the blast on Wednesday and was taken to hospital for observation, Poland’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.
“An explosion occurred at 7.50am yesterday in a room adjacent to the police commander’s office,” the statement said.
“One of the gifts that the commander received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11-12 exploded,” it said.
According to the statement, the gift came from a senior officer in the Ukrainian police and emergency situations.
A civilian employee at the Polish headquarters also suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization, the ministry said.
The ministry said it had asked Ukraine for an explanation and a case had been opened with prosecutors and related services.
The incident came a month after a missile attack during a Russian attack on Ukraine that killed two people in Poland. Both NATO and Poland later said the missile was likely Ukrainian air defenses, although NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia was still responsible for the deaths because it launched the initial attack.
Poland’s Interior Ministry and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to insiders’ requests for comment.