Ukrainian sets himself alight in Poland

A Ukrainian man was admitted to hospital on Thursday with life-threatening injuries after setting himself on fire outside his country's consulate in southern Poland, police said.

The incident took place sometime before 8:00 am (0600 GMT) in the city of Krakow, according to press officer Piotr Szpiech, who said the man was 63 years old.

He was "standing in line outside the Ukrainian consulate... when he started yelling something in Ukrainian, took out a bottle with a flammable substance, doused himself with it and set himself on fire," Szpiech told AFP.

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"An officer on patrol and a witness put out the fire. The man was taken to hospital in a serious, life-threatening condition," he added.

Szpiech said he did not know what the man had been shouting.

Initial local media reports suggested the man had been urging his fellow citizens to return to Ukraine and fight Russia, which invaded the country in February last year.

However, a witness quoted later by the Polsat News television channel said, "He didn't mention the war or Ukraine -- just his personal grievances."

"He said he had an issue with the consulate, that he was not being helped," she added.