An incident of national intolerance occurred in Warsaw: an unknown man insulted a Ukrainian woman on a bus for her nationality and attacked Polish activist Zenobia Zachek, who came to the victim's defense.
According to the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior, the incident occurred on September 20 in the Praha-Pivnich district. The man continuously insulted an elderly Ukrainian woman, shouting insults related to the history of the UPA, Volhynia, and calls for Ukrainians to leave Poland.
Zenobia Zachek decided to stand up for the Ukrainian woman and began filming the man's aggressive actions on her phone. Then the attacker rushed at the activist and her friend and headbutted Zachek in the nose. According to the activist, her friend helped push the attacker off the bus, and the other passengers and the driver did not react to the conflict.
The man was detained on September 24 and was identified as 38-year-old Artur M., who works at a construction site in the suburbs of Warsaw. Police have launched an investigation under Article 217a of the Polish Criminal Code — violation of bodily integrity, and the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior is demanding additional charges against the attacker for motives of national hatred.
The event caused a wide resonance in the Polish media and among public activists, highlighting the problem of intolerance and aggression on national grounds in public transport.
