Warsaw, Poland - Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said on Monday that he ordered the closure of Russia's Russian consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia destroyed a fire last year that destroyed a shopping mall in Warsaw last year.

On May 12, 2024, a fire broke out at the Marievilska 44 Shopping Center, which houses about 1,400 stores and service points, a budget market in the warehouse-style structure of the northern Warsaw region. Many suppliers are from Vietnam, which has caused tragedy in the Vietnamese community in Warsaw.

Sikorski announced the closure in a statement released Monday morning in Warsaw a year after the fire.

He also settled the matter during his visit to the UK and told reporters that the decision was made because the Ministry of Justice and security forces found evidence of Russia's arson.

"It's a huge fire in the Warsaw shopping mall, where no one was hurt because of luck. It's totally unacceptable," Sikorski said.

"So the Russian consulate will have to leave," he added. "If these attacks continue, we will take further action."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday it would have a "full response" to the closure of the consulate.

Russian news media Interfax quoted, "Warsaw is continuing to deliberately undermine (the relationship between Poland and Russia) and act against the interests of its citizens."

Last year, Sikorski had ordered the closure of Russia's Russian consulate in Poznan, three of Poland's then-subjects in response to Moscow-sponsored vandalism, including arson attacks.

This is only one Russian consulate left, in Gedank.

Europe's concerns over Russia's attempt to undermine the region through covert operations are worrying. Russia denies it is doing so.

NATO's eastern side, such as Poland and the Baltic countries, are particularly vulnerable. Lithuania accused Russia of arson attack in IKEA, the capital Vilnius in March last year. Authorities in these countries have been cooperating because they believe some of the so-called perpetrators are working on the border.

The Lithuanian prosecutor's office said suspects in the IKEA fire in Vilnius burned and blew up the currency rewards for shopping malls in Lithuania and Latvia during a secret meeting in Warsaw.

Sikorski's announcement was announced later on Sunday, with Polish officials saying: "It is now certain that the fire in Marywilska is the result of arson by the director of the Russian Services Agency."

"These operations were coordinated by a person living in Russia. Some of the perpetrators have been detained and the rest have been identified and are being sought," Tasker said on X.