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When it comes to military mishaps, the tales often sound too surreal to be true.
This would include a story that made the rounds recently, where it was claimed that the Polish Army accidentally sent anti-tank mines to a warehouse owned by the furniture super-chain Ikea.
Did it really manage to lose track of such dangerous cargo, only for it to end up in the hands of the well-known furniture chain?
VERDICT:
TRUE
As reported by the portal Politico, the Polish Defence Ministry has confirmed that anti-tank mines were found at an Ikea warehouse, leading to the dismissal of Major General Artur Kępczyński.
Politico had quoted a report by the Polish news outlet Onet which had said that the ministry dismissed Kępczyński from his post as the Head of the Support Inspectorate effective Jan 9 of this year.
Onet had said that the incident involved a logistical error in July 2024, when soldiers failed to unload part of a train carrying over 1,000 tons of explosives.
This in turn led to 240 anti-tank mines being lost before the explosives were discovered in a rail siding near a warehouse belonging to IKEA Industry Orla.
Politico then added that Polish media had reported that Kępczyński’s dismissal was related to concealing the disappearance of the mines from his superior.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that four Polish Army soldiers now face charges of neglect of duty, with a potential penalty of up to five years in prison.
“The suspects are four soldiers, the case concerns neglect of duty regarding the unloading of a transport of munitions and (they face) up to 5 years of imprisonment," said Poznan district prosecutor’s office spokesman Lukasz Wawrzyniak.
It was reported by Reuters that the transport took place between July 4 and 7 and was not completely offloaded, leading to the mines' journey across the country before being secured by army personnel after they were found.
“The box was collected by the military police on the same day. Cooperation with the military police went very smoothly," said Ikea Industry Poland CEO Malgorzata Dobies-Turulska.
Reuters also reported that Poland's Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that all appropriate actions were taken following the incident, highlighting the importance of civilian supervision in resolving the matter.
"Civilian supervision played a key role in this matter," he told private radio RMF.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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