Military activity in Poland is increasing. The reason is Russian attacks on Ukraine. The exact background is unclear. Is the conflict escalating?
Warsaw – Shortly after large-scale attacks by Russia on Thursday night (April 11), NATO now appears to be becoming more active. According to the Polish army, aircraft from NATO and Poland took off into the airspace. “Please note that Polish and allied aircraft are operating in the airspace, which can lead to increased noise levels, especially in the southeastern part of the country,” said a post by the Polish army on the online platform X.
“Tonight, intense long-range aviation activities of the Russian Federation are observed, related to missile attacks on objects on the territory of Ukraine,” the Polish army wrote, according to
Newsweek
. The mobilization is not the first carried out in response to Russian activities. German fighter jets had previously taken off on Tuesday to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea.
Ukraine reports nightly attacks by Russia on energy infrastructure with far-reaching consequences
Ukrainian officials said
the overnight attacks caused power outages for at least 200,000 people, according to
Newsweek
. The high-voltage stations were particularly damaged in the Odessa and Zaporizhia regions. In the Lviv, Kharkiv and Kiev regions, power generation plants were shut down during the attack. The gas infrastructure in the Lviv region was also damaged.
"The terrorist country is trying to destroy Kharkiv's infrastructure and leave the city in darkness," Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, wrote on Telegram, according to
Newsweek
. According to him, at least ten rockets hit the Kharkiv region alone. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, a total of 40 Shahed drones and 42 missiles were used to attack energy infrastructure. According to the report, Ukraine also shot down 57 air targets. “We managed to shoot down some of the missiles and drones. Unfortunately, only a part of it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wrote on X.
Ukraine is urgently looking for air defense systems - Polish army and NATO are increasing their presence in the airspace
“All our European neighbors and other partners see Ukraine’s urgent need for air defense systems. “Especially now that we are able to overcome Russian terror, the world can show that all terror is treated as a crime,” wrote Zelensky in another message on Have discussions.”
It is not yet possible to determine exactly why the presence of the Polish army and NATO aircraft in the airspace was increased. It can be assumed that it is intended to send a similar signal to the military exercises that take place regularly in the eastern NATO area: We are ready, we are capable of defending ourselves. It is possible that Russian military equipment breached NATO airspace again during the attack, as has happened many times. “All necessary procedures to ensure the safety of Polish airspace have been initiated and the DO RSZ is continuously monitoring the situation,” the Polish military continued. The DO RSZ is the operational command of the military branches.
(lismah)