The Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk has released details of an attack on a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy in Bydgoszcz. The attackers threatened and physically injured them for speaking their native language.
Two Ukrainian children, a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, were attacked in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz for speaking Ukrainian to each other. The incident occurred on August 14, 2026 in a park near the railway station, and the report of the attack was published on August 17, according to Ukrainska Pravda, citing a statement from the Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk.
According to the diplomatic mission, an adult couple first verbally attacked the children, using insults, inappropriate language, and threats based on national intolerance. The conflict then escalated into physical violence.
The consulate's statement says that the attackers "twisted the child's arm, broke a toy drone, and threw debris at the boy, causing scratches." The consulate emphasized that the children's physical health is currently not in danger, but that they "have suffered severe emotional stress."
The mother of the victims filed a police report, and officers are currently searching for those connected to the attack. Consular officials are in constant contact with the mother of the attacked children.
The Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk strongly condemned the incident. "We firmly condemn any form of xenophobia. The issue of combating intolerance and ensuring the safety of Ukrainians is one of the key topics during the planned meeting at the Consulate with the leadership of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, mayors, and police commanders. We will not leave this case without an appropriate legal response," the statement reads.
The attack in Bydgoszcz is not an isolated case. In recent weeks, there has been a sharp increase in attacks on Ukrainian citizens in Poland. On August 8, 2026, a 39-year-old man in Kraków grossly insulted two Ukrainians and then turned himself in to the police and was arrested.
Additional tensions were caused by Member of the European Parliament and former Warsaw mayoral candidate Tobiasz Bocheński, who stated that his party, Law and Justice, if it came to power, would ensure the deportation of Ukrainian men of military age who are not legally employed in Poland. The Polish Ministry of Interior assessed such statements as populism.
