Second Polish Diplomat Attacked
A Polish diplomat was beaten up in Moscow today. According to the Russian ITAR TASR agency the victim is the second secretary of the embassy. The man was assaulted close to the Polish embassy by four men. He has been hospitalised and there is speculation that he is suffering from concussion.
It is the second such incident in the Russian capital over the past couple of days. Three days ago an employee of the Polish embassy was attacked some 50 meters away from the building. He was hospitalised with concussion. Last Friday a driver of the Polish embassy in Moscow was attacked in the vicinity of his home.
The Polish foreign ministry said that steps have been undertaken to explain the matter. Both the Polish and Russian foreign ministries have described the earlier attacks as hooliganism. Suspicion grows, however, that the assaults in Moscow are an answer to an incident in Warsaw on July 31st when children of Russian diplomats were mugged in a park in Warsaw. President Vladimir Putin demanded an official apology for the incident which he termed as an expression of anti Russian sentiment prevailing in Poland. Poland has expressed regret over the attack. The Foreign Ministry described it as ‘an act of bandits and hooligans’ but stressed that it should not be linked to any kind of political action against the Russian Federation.