According to officials, the incident occurred in a suburb of Wrocław on Sunday around 7 p.m. after a dispute flared up in a store.
Read more The most beautiful goal of the World Cup has been chosen
As the victim’s brother wrote on the social network “Facebook,” the quarrel started after three men stood in line in front of a Ukrainian couple. According to him, his sister protested their behavior, and the men began insulting the woman because of her Ukrainian accent.
20-year-old Anastazja and her 21-year-old partner Maksym were attacked and severely beaten outside when they returned to their car.
Read more: In Poland, 3 men attacked and brutally beat a Ukrainian couple: suspected concussion
A police spokesperson confirmed that nationality was one of the motives for the crime.
Warned compatriots
20-year-old Anastazja told tvn24.pl that she has been living in Poland for more than seven years. She does not hide that she has heard comments about her accent before, but she says she has never experienced physical violence.
“On Sunday, we only planned to go to the store to shop and return home, but something much worse happened. A man pushed into the line. He stood at the back, then cut in front of me in line. I put my groceries at the checkout, and the cashier served me first, then him.
I told him that this is not done and there is a line. Then his colleague started calling me names, and everything started on the street,” the girl told the portal, insisting that the name-calling was related to her nationality.
However, she hoped that everything would end with words, but it turned out differently.
I would like to ask all Ukrainians, everyone who is abroad, to speak their language as little as possible in public places to protect themselves. Even a regular visit to the store can end up in the hospital.
“First, one of them hit my boyfriend, and after a minute, I got a blow to the face from another man there. There were about four blows, the last one – when my boyfriend was already lying on the ground, those three men continued to beat him,” said Anastazja, claiming that the last blow was to her ear and later that spot had to be stitched – six stitches were needed.
Maksym says that the men who approached the car started calling his girlfriend names and told him to “go fight” and so on. “This is xenophobia,” said the 21-year-old, who claims his injured head still hurts and he has many bruises on his body.
“I would like to ask all Ukrainians, everyone who is abroad, to speak their language as little as possible in public places to protect themselves. Even a regular visit to the store can end up in the hospital,” Anastazja said bitterly.
Condemned by the minister
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński announced on Monday on the social network “X” the arrest of two attackers, stating that one of the men was detained by the anti-terrorist police while trying to flee the city.
“Brutal violence will never go unpunished,” the minister wrote, adding that the men were already known to the police.
Read more Mosquito, midge, or hornet? You can tell what bit you by these signs
Both victims were taken to the hospital, where the woman’s wounds were stitched, and later she posted photos of her injuries on the social network “Facebook.”
A brutal video showing three men kicking Maksym and beating Anastazja quickly spread on social networks, with people sharing it thousands of times.
If found guilty, the attackers face up to five years in prison.
“Never before”
The family has lived in Poland for more than 10 years and has never encountered anything like this before, Anastazja’s mother Karina told the Ukrainian-language platform “Slawa” on “TVP World.”
According to her, her daughter and her boyfriend were in the hospital until 2 a.m.
“Nastia [Anastazja] is in very poor condition; she is a very fragile girl. What she experienced was an indescribable stress,” Karina said, claiming that the attackers used not only fists but also a stun gun against her daughter.
The woman said the girl suffers from severe headaches and noted that the injuries affected her overall health condition.
Poles expressed support
Karina noted that after the incident, many Poles expressed support for the family.
“Poles expressed great support,” she said. “There are people who said they would help, call the police. Indeed, many people reacted.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked Polish law enforcement agencies in his post on the social network “X” and called for a “thorough, objective, and impartial investigation, to establish all circumstances and motives of the crime, and to appropriately punish all perpetrators.”
Wrocław Mayor Jacek Sutryk urged city residents not to succumb to “violence, incitement of hatred, and discrimination.”
“I also dedicate these words to all politicians and public figures who consciously or irresponsibly spread a message based on fear, prejudice, and division,” the mayor wrote.
A. Sybiha agreed with the call for political moderation, writing that Poland and Ukraine “need dialogue and mutual respect, not reasons to seek hatred.”
According to data provided by the newspaper “Rzeczpospolita,” in the first half of 2026, the number of reports of hate crimes against Ukrainians in Poland increased by 30% compared to the same period last year.
Read more Your recipe can become an official part of Lithuanian history: a special campaign is announced
