Poland accused Russian intelligence of planning a fire that almost completely destroyed a shopping mall in Warsaw, the capital last year.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an article on X that Poland knew "confirm" the fire at the Marywilska shopping mall was caused by arson ordered by Russian special service.

Tusk added that some of the responsible persons had been detained, while all others allegedly involved had been identified and were searching for.

Moscow has not commented on the allegations, but has previously denied allegations of alleged destruction in Europe.

The May 2024 fire destroyed 1,400 small businesses, with many employees having members of the Vietnamese community in Warsaw.

Poland has conducted a year-long investigation into the incident, which has now concluded that the fire was organized by an unnamed Russian man.

The joint statement of the Polish minister of Justice and Interior said the detainees’ actions were “organized and directed by specific persons living in the Russian Federation.”

The two departments added that they are working with Lithuania “some perpetrators have also conducted divergence actions.”

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has detained and convicted several people accused of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence agencies.

Polish officials said the attacks had become part of a "hybrid war" launched in Moscow.

Hybrid war is a time when hostile states usually conduct anonymous, denial attacks in highly suspicious circumstances. This is enough to hurt their opponents, especially their infrastructure assets, but to stop becoming an act that can be attributed to war.

NATO also believes that Russia is launching a "hybrid war" in Europe with the goal of punishing or preventing Western countries from continuing military support for Ukraine.

Russia denies NATO countries' repeated accusations of its Secret Service engaging in sabotage operations in Europe.

The Marywilska shopping mall opened in 2010 and during the fire, many workers lost important documents and large amounts of cash that were kept in the mall due to fears of resting at home.

Three months after the fire, Marywilska owners opened a temporary shopping mall, and about 400 traders resumed their business.

The Warsaw Alternative Mall in Modlinska 6D opened in October 2024, with traders relocating their business to a new website.