Following the violation of Polish airspace by 19 Russian drones this week, Poland and Ukraine are stepping up military cooperation.
By Linda Bordoni
The conflict in the heart of Europe appears to be escalating with Russia saying it downed 221 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory overnight.
Thursday night’s Ukrainian drone attack, reportedly intercepted by Moscow over the Bryansk and Smolensk regions where oil facilities were targeted, is one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults since May. Observers, however, note it comes in the wake of much larger bombardments from Russia.
Russian authorities said the drones were brought down and that a fire was extinguished without casualties or leaks.
In Ukraine, meanwhile, 2 civilians were killed when a Russian glide bomb struck a village near the border, and others were injured in a drone attack on a bus.
Anti-drone training for Poland
The continuing attacks have led to a shocking development for Europe, described by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on Thursday as a frightening risk of a wider war: Warsaw announced that Polish military will travel to Ukraine to take part in anti-drone training after Poland’s Air Force was forced to shoot down at least 3 of the 19 Russian drones violating its airspace this week for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly proposed the training to strengthen Poland’s defences against drones after a conversation with his Polish counterpart in which they acknowledged the incident – which Russia claims is accidental – had been on a bigger scale than previous ones.
Zelensky said that Ukraine would offer Poland training on how to combat Russian drones, especially Iran-made Shaheds, which the Ukrainian army already has extensive experience of dealing with.
“We have agreed with Donald (Tusk) on appropriate cooperation at the military level.” He said in a post on X, “We will also coordinate with all NATO member states.”
