Russia on Wednesday accused Poland of creating Polish-Ukrainian units, ostensibly to ensure Ukraine’s security, but with the aim of occupying the neighboring country’s western region.
“There are plans to establish the so-called Polish-Ukrainian connection on a regular basis, ostensibly to ensure the security of western Ukraine, but in reality for the subsequent occupation of this area,” said Russian Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu.
Shoigu presented a report on security at the borders of the National Union (Russia and Belarus) at a meeting at the ministry, saying that Poland has become the “main instrument of the United States’ anti-Russian policy”.
Shoigu also accused Poland of wanting to form the “most powerful army in Europe” because it began buying weapons for this purpose from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
The purchases include “tanks, artillery systems, air defense systems, anti-missile defense and combat aircraft,” the minister said, according to Russian agencies TASS and Ria Novosti.
The war in Ukraine started by Moscow on February 24, 2022 led to heightened security on NATO’s eastern flank and requests for Sweden and Finland to join the Atlantic Alliance.
Shoigu considered “a serious destabilizing factor Finland’s accession to NATO and, in the future, Sweden”, which has already doubled Russia’s land border with the Atlantic Alliance.
“It is likely that NATO military contingents and weapons capable of hitting critical targets in northwestern Russia will be installed on Finnish territory,” he warned, quoted by Spain’s EFE agency.
Shoigu said Eastern European countries had stationed “about 360,000 troops, 8,000 armored vehicles, 6,000 artillery and mortar pieces, and 650 aircraft and helicopters” on the Russian and Belarusian borders.
One such country is Poland, which today announced the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops to the border with Belarus, doubling the Polish force in the region.
At the same time, according to Shoigu, the presence of troops from other NATO countries has increased 2.5 times since the start of the war, to more than 30,000 troops.
He also said the supply of a “significant amount” of weapons to Ukraine by Western allies carries “serious risks” of an escalation of the conflict.
“Since February last year, Ukraine has received hundreds of tanks, more than 4,000 armored vehicles, more than 100,000 artillery pieces and dozens of multiple launchers or air defense systems,” he said.
According to the Russian defense minister, Western military aid to Kiev exceeded $160 billion (€145.7 billion at current exchange rates).
Shoigu also accused Washington of committing “a new crime by including cluster bombs, banned by an international convention, in the military aid package” to Ukraine, given the Ukrainian troops’ shortage of ammunition.
“Threats … to Russia’s military security require a timely and adequate response,” said Russia’s defense minister.
Source: DN
