Ukraine offer ‘gift’ of exploding grenade launcher to Poland

Ukraine: UK and Poland need 'multi domain perspective' says Raubo

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Poland’s highest-ranking police officer, General Jaroslaw Szymczyk, told local media he accidentally set off a grenade launcher that was gifted to him by Ukraine. An explosion took place at police headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, which is now being investigated for a “violent release of energy” by Polish officials. The incident took place around 7:50am (6:50am GMT) on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office. 

The Police Commander-in-Chief Jarosław Szymczyk suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital, and now reports have come out the explosion was caused by a present he received.  

In an interview with RMF FM radio, Mr Szymczyk said he had been given a grenade launcher on a recent trip to Ukraine.

He said:  “When I was moving the used grenade launchers, which were gifts from the Ukrainians, there was an explosion.

“The explosion was powerful – the force of the impact went through the floor and damaged the ceiling.”

The radio station also reported, from an anonymous source, that the two grenade launchers were supposed to be an “unusual war gift” from Ukraine. 

The report claims that both launchers did not contain explosives and that one of them was reportedly turned into a loudspeaker to play music. 

However, media outlets such as Reuters and the BBC have been unable to independently confirm these claims. 

The only official information about the incident has been from a brief statement by Poland’s interior ministry, which said one of the gifts Mr Szymczyk received, given to him by a senior Ukrainian official, had exploded, but they did not say what the gift was in their statement.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office had said it is currently investigating “an act consisting of unintentionally causing a violent release of energy that threatened the life or health of many people or property”.

The statement also said three people, including Mr Szymczyk, were considered victims but no more details were given. 

Poland has asked to Ukraine to “provide an explanation”, but Ukraine has made no public statement about the incident. 

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The explosion had caused Polish politicians to question Mr Szymczyk’s ability to lead police forces. 

Radoslaw Sikorski, MEP and former foreign minister, said on Twitter: “It is true we will not win the World Cup but thanks to the commander @PolishPolice we are favourite for the Darwin award.”

Tomasz Siemoniak, the deputy leader of the opposition, Civic Platform, wrote that the incident was “indefensible”.

On Twitter, he wrote: “Heads must roll of those responsible for this situation and endangering life. And the commander has lost his capacity to lead the police.”

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