In an exclusive BBC interview, the Polish foreign minister accuses Russia of recruiting agents and paying them for acts of sabotage.

WARSAW (Reuters) -Russian secret services were behind a massive fire that nearly completely destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre in May 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday after a year of investigation into the case.

Poland said on Wednesday it had uncovered what could be an attempt to interfere in its presidential election campaign using advertisements on Facebook that may have been financed

Dozens say they have been abused in public, bullied in schools and seen increasing xenophobic material online.

The Lithuanian investigation found that a May 9, 2024 arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, as well as the May 12, 2024 Marywilska fire, were set by Ukrainian citizens acting on behalf of Russia, Tusk wrote in March. A week earlier, Polish prosecutors had said a Belarusian refugee was responsible.

In the early months of 2022, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, millions of Ukrainians — mostly women and children — fled to Poland, where they were met with an extraordinary outpouring of sympathy.

European leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Poland joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a 30-day ceasefire or face more sanctions.