By seizing the building, Polish authorities have violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Russia says.

On Saturday morning, employees of the Warsaw municipality, accompanied by police, showed up at the school building of the Russian Embassy in the Polish capital, demanding that the embassy school be vacated by diplomatic staff by 4 pm local time on Saturday, the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet reports.

The #Warsaw City Hall is evicting employees of the school at the #Russian Embassy in the #Polish capital.#Moscow will protest about this, said Ambassador Sergei Andreev. pic.twitter.com/Kz1OAssWdp

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 29, 2023

According to Polish press reports, the Polish foreign ministry previously announced that it had contacted relevant authorities regarding two properties that belong to Russia illegally and are not used for diplomatic work in the ministry’s view. One of the buildings houses the embassy school and the other is a residential building for Russian diplomats, the Polish portal Informer wrote.

Moscow firmly rejects Warsaw’s move. Sergey Andreyev, Moscow’s ambassador to Poland, told the Ria Novosti Russian state news agency that he could not predict how the Kremlin would respond, but he emphasized that the seizure of the school building is considered an illegal act. Education will continue in another building of the diplomatic mission, and the students will be able to take their exams, he added.

Sergey Andreyev pointed out that

„the move clearly qualifies as an illegal act, a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.