Polish police detained two women in connection with an attack on Ukrainian men outside a Poznań restaurant, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński announced. The incident comes as Polish-Ukrainian relations grow more strained and public attitudes toward Ukrainians worsen. The incident occurred shortly after midnight on 13 August on Półwiejska Street.
Police data obtained by Rzeczpospolita show 180 hate-crime reports involving Ukrainian citizens in the first half of 2026, over 30% more than a year earlier. Police have not said whether they are treating the Poznań case as a hate crime, although the recording includes nationality-based abuse.
One woman insulted two Ukrainian men, spat at one, knocked over a restaurant parasol, and struck one of the men, the Polish radio station RMF FM reported.
Regional police spokesperson Iwona Liszczyńska said officers responded to reports of two apparently intoxicated women. However, the women had left before officers arrived. Police contacted the restaurant manager, who filed a formal complaint on the morning of 14 August. Officers had already begun identifying the women before the complaint was filed.
Kierwiński first reported that police had detained one woman and identified the other. He later announced the second woman’s detention and declared “zero tolerance for aggression and hatred.”
Previous attacks on Ukrainians in Poland
Kierwiński’s warning followed a series of attacks against Ukrainians in Poland this year. In July, three men allegedly beat a Ukrainian couple in Wrocław after asking whether the woman was Ukrainian. Police detained two suspects and treated the assault as a nationality-motivated hate crime.
In May, police detained five suspects aged 15 to 18 after an attack on three Ukrainian teenagers in Warsaw. One of them, 16-year-old Artem, suffered a fractured skull.
Earlier in July, two men linked to Poland’s far right confronted a Ukrainian woman at her legal-aid office in Poznań. They demanded entry and asked whether she supported Stepan Bandera, a WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist disliked by many Poles.
Historical dispute deepens political rift
The Poznań incident comes as anti-Ukrainian themes have gained ground in Polish far-right politics, while Warsaw and Kyiv remain divided over the WWII-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Many Ukrainians honor the UPA for resisting Soviet rule. Poland holds it responsible for massacring Polish civilians.
Poland and Ukraine’s dispute over the Volhynia massacres, exhumations, and UPA symbols has prompted protests and a diplomatic clash over state honors. Police have not linked the Poznań attack to that dispute.
