Polish police have detained two of the three men suspected of beating a young Ukrainian couple in the city of Wrocław, Suspilne reported. Investigators are treating the assault as a hate crime driven by the victims' nationality, and the two detainees now face criminal charges and possible prison time. Officers are still searching for the third attacker as Kyiv presses for a full investigation.
Two suspects detained, one still sought
Wrocław police detained the two men on 27 July, and both had prior records. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński announced the arrests on X, writing that brutal violence would never go unpunished. Counter-terrorism officers stopped one suspect as he tried to leave Wrocław. The third man remains at large.
The two detainees were to be questioned and charged at the Wrocław-Psie Pole district prosecutor's office. They face up to five years in prison, prosecution spokesman Jakub Dłubacz told Ukrinform. The charges combine battery with violence motivated by national intolerance under Poland's criminal code.
"Are you Ukrainian?" — three Polish men beat the couple
The attack happened around 18:30 on 26 July in Wrocław's Zakrzów district. The victim's mother, Karina Kitsai, recounted the events to Radio Svoboda. Her daughter Nastia had stopped at a supermarket to buy coffee and food while her boyfriend Maksym waited in the car. At the checkout, one man set a beer in front of Nastia. When she pointed to the queue, he asked whether she was Ukrainian and began insulting her.
The men waited outside. As Nastia reached the car, they ran up and started beating Maksym. She screamed for them to stop, and one attacker turned on her.
"One of them ran up to her and started hitting her in the face. She fell on her back," Kitsai said. The men briefly stepped back, then attacked again as the couple tried to stand.
Nastia suffered a cut neck that needed stitches, a torn ear, and a badly bruised face. Her mother believes one attacker may have used a knife. The men beat Maksym's head and shocked him with the stun gun he had tried to use to defend himself. Both Nastia and Maksym were treated for suspected concussion.
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A neighbor heard the cries and filmed the assault from his balcony, and the family later published the video.
Custom Code
"We are compelled to note that cases of violence and aggression whose victims are Ukrainian citizens have recently become more frequent in Poland," Ukraine's Consulate General in Wrocław wrote, sharing the video.
Kyiv presses for justice as attacks climb
Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked Polish authorities, law enforcement, and Wrocław's mayor for their swift response. He wrote that Kyiv expects a full and impartial investigation and fair punishment for everyone involved.
Sybiha again urged "certain Polish politicians" to stop fueling hostility that turns into street violence.
"We need dialogue and mutual respect, not looking for reasons to hate," he wrote.
