Poland has warned that Russia’s latest drone strikes in western Ukraine are being treated with the “utmost seriousness”, after attacks hit targets just kilometres from the NATO member’s border and a passenger train travelling towards Warsaw.
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said Russia first struck near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing before a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train was hit about 2km from Polish territory, the Kyiv Independent reported.
“We are treating these events with the utmost seriousness,” Kierwinski wrote on X. “The situation is being constantly monitored. Russia is an enemy of the free world.”
The attacks brought Russia’s war unusually close to Poland, with multiple strikes reported in Volyn, north-western Ukraine.
Read more related news:
Ukraine seizes battlefield initiative as Russia’s gains virtually disappear
Russia turns Ukraine into a nationwide killing zone on civilians
Explosions rock Poland as Russian ‘missile drones’ cross the border
Jacek Goryszewski, a spokesperson for the Polish Armed Forces’ Operational Command, said the threat to Poland was “real”.
“Drones were operating and even striking targets located very close to the Polish border — just a few to several dozen kilometers away,” he said.
The attacks also left Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna and an Estonian delegation stranded at the border crossing after the Russian drone threat prevented them from leaving Ukraine.
“Russia’s attacks are becoming more intense and moving ever closer to NATO and the EU. Our response must intensify, too,” Tsahkna said.
“Every Russian missile and drone Ukraine stops, every Russian capability we help Ukraine destroy, and every additional cost we impose on Moscow strengthens the security of Ukraine and all of Europe.”
A gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing was damaged, with falling drone debris triggering fires at the site and among several nearby trucks.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes demonstrated how Russia’s war was increasingly reaching the borders of the EU and NATO.
“This is (Vladimir) Putin’s terror, ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” Sybiha wrote.
The Yahodyn crossing itself was not struck and remains operational, according to Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.
However, spokesman Andrii Demchenko warned that Russian attacks in the area were intensifying and said the crossing could be temporarily closed if the security situation deteriorated.
For Poland and its NATO allies, the strikes underline the growing difficulty of separating the battlefield in Ukraine from the security of neighbouring alliance members. Russian drones operating within a few kilometres of Polish territory increase the risk of debris, navigation incidents or an accidental breach of NATO airspace, while putting pressure on Warsaw to strengthen its response without directly entering the conflict.
Leave a Comment