Injured Polish police chief fired grenade launcher Ukraine gave as gift – report

Poland’s police chief Jaroslaw Szymczyk accidentally fired a grenade launcher in his office that he had received from a senior Ukraine official, lightly injuring himself and two others, it was reported Friday.

Poland’s interior ministry initially said Szymczyk has been hospitalized with minor injuries after a gift he received from a senior Ukrainian official “exploded” at police headquarters.

However, Polish media cited by the Reuters news agency, reported the “violent release of energy” was caused when the police chief fired the launcher in a serious breach of protocol.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said a probe had been opened into “an act consisting of unintentionally causing a violent release of energy that threatened the life or health of many people or property.”

The police chief went on an official trip to Ukraine earlier this month.

Szymczyk met with the heads of Ukraine’s police and state emergency services during the visit and the “the present was a gift from one of the heads of Ukraine’s services,” the interior ministry said shortly after the incident, without specifying what the Polish commander had received.

A civilian employee of the national police headquarters also suffered minor injuries in the incident that did not require hospitalization and a third person was also lightly hurt, Reuters said.

Poland is an ally of Ukraine and has offered the neighboring country various kinds of support, including military and humanitarian aid, since Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24.

Poland also has accepted a large number of Ukrainian refugees.