Poland’s police chief, Jarosław Szymczyk, has been taken to hospital with minor injuries after a gift he received from a senior Ukrainian official exploded, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
“Yesterday at 7.50am there was an explosion in a room next to the office of the police chief,” a statement said. “One of the presents the police chief received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11 and 12 exploded.”
Szymczyk had met the heads of Ukraine’s police and state emergency services during the visit and the present was a gift from one of the heads of Ukraine’s services, the ministry said.
It described his injuries as minor and said he remained in hospital under observation.
A civilian employee at the national police headquarters also suffered minor injuries that did not require hospital treatment.
“The Polish side has asked the Ukrainian side to provide an explanation,” the ministry said.
According to unofficial information, the reason for the explosion in the Main Directorate of the Polish Police was a grenade launcher donated in Ukraine, which the police were “playing with”. Gazeta Wyborcza writes about this with reference to sources.