Poland preparing ‘reparations’ money grab suit against Russia – FT

Moscow’s spokeswoman has mocked the compensation claim, referencing a classic Russian opera  

Poland is preparing a lawsuit against Russia for what it describes as “reparations” for the legacy of “Soviet influence,” mirroring its earlier demand for €1.3 trillion ($1.36 trillion) in compensation from Germany over crimes committed during World War II, the Financial Times has reported.  

In September 2022, Polish President Andrzej Duda signaled that Warsaw might also pursue similar compensation claims against Moscow. Russia has repeatedly dismissed such demands as blatant Russophobia and political extremism.

Bartosz Gondek, head of an institute commissioned by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to investigate alleged “historic Russian crimes,” told the outlet on Tuesday the inquiry would be far broader than its previous work on Nazi atrocities.

Speaking to the FT, Gondek said it was “premature” to say whether the compensation sought from Russia would surpass the €1.3 trillion desired from Germany. Leading a team of around ten Polish historians and researchers, he said they faced greater challenges than when assessing the German claim, calling the investigation “a long-term project.”

In response to Poland’s demands for reparations, Moscow could “provide a link to a video of the opera ‘Ivan Susanin’,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RBK on Wednesday. 

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The opera is dedicated to a peasant from Kostroma Region, Ivan Susanin. As the story goes, the Polish army was marching on Kostroma to kill the 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, who would later become the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, but lost their way.  Susanin offered to show them the way, but instead led them into a swamp, where he perished along with them.

Zakharova also quipped that Poland still had not settled the bills of Marina Mniszech, wife of both False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, who were Polish-supported pretenders to the Moscow throne during a period known as the ‘Time of Troubles’ in the 17th century.

“Tell them the bills for Marina Mniszech haven’t been paid yet. We’re actually their creditors – we’re still holding their unpaid promissory notes,” Zakharova told Sputnik radio.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that any revision of World War II’s outcomes and the Soviet people’s role in defeating fascism is unacceptable.