Polish police detain two suspects in xenophobic assault on Ukrainian siblings

The incident occurred on Aug. 14 in a public park near the city's central railway station. 

The suspects are being held at a Bydgoszcz police precinct while investigators conduct standard procedural actions. 

Police officials stated that formal charges will be determined once initial proceedings conclude. Law enforcement is specifically evaluating potential charges involving ethnically motivated insults, hate speech, and property damage. 

According to the Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk, the siblings — a 14-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother — were attacked simply for speaking Ukrainian to one another. The assailants, who were walking a small dog, directed verbal abuse and violent threats at the children, diplomats confirmed. During the confrontation, the woman twisted the girl's arm, smashed the boy's toy drone, and hurled the broken plastic fragments at him, causing scratches. 

According to the victims' mother, the adults initially reprimanded the children for flying the toy drone before escalating the altercation into violence. 

In July, Polish police announced reinforced initiatives to counter hate crimes targeting Ukrainians, introducing dedicated performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of investigating such offenses and referring them for prosecution starting in 2026. 

Since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainians residing in Poland have filed 180 formal reports regarding hate-motivated crimes — a 30% increase compared to 2025.