The trial of a former police chief in connection with a grenade launcher explosion has begun in Poland
The trial of former Polish Police Chief Jarosław Szimczyk has begun in the Warsaw-Mokotów District Court. The case against the Inspector General was opened following the explosion of a grenade launcher he received during an official visit to Ukraine in December 2022.
The trial is being held behind closed doors.
Szymczyk faces two charges. The first concerns the illegal possession of a portable weapon—a grenade launcher—without the proper permit. The second relates to the unintentional creation of a threat to the lives and health of many people, as well as to property.
This refers to an explosion in the office of the then-Chief of the Polish Police at the agency’s headquarters in Warsaw. As a result of the incident, adjacent rooms were damaged, and Shymchik himself was injured and spent two days in the hospital. A civilian police employee was also injured but did not require hospitalization.
According to Polish media reports, during a visit to Kyiv, Shymchik received two anti-tank grenade launchers. One of them was handed over by the then-head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko.
According to a member of the Polish delegation, this grenade launcher was secondhand and had previously been used against Russian tanks. The barrel had been modified into a makeshift loudspeaker. The Ukrainian side assured their Polish colleagues that no explosive materials remained inside.
Later, the Polish delegation met with Serhiy Kruk, head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. After the meeting, his deputy, Dmytro Bondar, showed the Polish representatives the facility where defused ammunition—including shells and mines—was stored.
Before leaving, Bondar also presented Shymchyk with a grenade launcher tube. According to the Ukrainian side, it had been used and was safe for transport.
The delegation returned to Warsaw by car, and Shimchik left the gifted tubes in the back of his office.
The day after returning to Poland, Shymchyk decided to move the gifts. When he placed one of the cases upright on the floor, an explosion rang out about a second later.
The general himself said that the explosion was so powerful that the blast damaged the floor and ceiling of the police building.
Military experts quoted by Polish media noted that the grenade launcher would not have gone off on its own unless it had been damaged. Among the possible causes, they also cited accidental pressure on a part of the firing mechanism that may not have been checked thoroughly enough.
The investigation into the incident was subsequently suspended. The reason was that the Ukrainian side had long failed to respond to Polish requests for legal assistance.
In July 2025, the proceedings were resumed after the Ukrainian side contacted the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw and provided certain case materials. The Polish prosecutor decided that this was sufficient to continue the investigation and prepared an additional request to Ukraine.
In particular, Polish investigators wanted to question individuals who might have known the circumstances surrounding the handover of the grenade launcher to the Polish delegation in Kyiv. This also included drivers and maintenance personnel.
Separately, the prosecutor’s office sought to determine whether Shymchyk could have been the victim of a sabotage attempt. This issue was examined as part of a separate proceeding.
The case regarding the actions of the former chief of the Polish police has now gone to trial. Szymczyk must answer the charges brought against him, and the court must establish the circumstances surrounding the storage of the grenade launcher and the explosion at the Police Headquarters.
As a reminder, the explosion occurred in December 2022 after Shymchyk returned from an official visit to Ukraine. Following the incident, Polish authorities also opened an investigation, and Ukrainian law enforcement launched their own probe.
This was reported by RMF24.
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