A key member of the Kremlin has warned a European capital would “disappear” if the country launches military action against Russia in an apparent nuclear strike threat.
Russian Presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev said if Warsaw started military operations against Russia, Poland could soon cease to exist as a state “in a few days,” Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.
According to the newspaper, Patrushev said: “If Poland enters into military operations against Russia, our country will use the entire arsenal of its available forces and means, and Polish statehood will cease to exist in 2-3 days.”
These comments came after the recent Russian drone attack on a railway line in western Ukraine, which hit a train near the Polish border.
Former PM Boris Johnson was travelling towards Poland after attending a security conference in Kyiv when the incident occurred.
He is understood to have escaped unharmed. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt was among those on the train with Mr Johnson. “This wasn’t our train [that was hit], but the one just minutes after us by the [Polish] border crossing,” he said. It was evacuated as the [Russian] drone approached, and no one was hurt.”
Tensions are high as Russia has recently intensified its attacks on border crossing areas in western Ukraine in a bid to disrupt Kyiv’s logistics.
In one of these attacks, the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing, a key link between Ukraine and Poland, was also hit.
There are fears that Russia could escalate the conflict, especially with several reports of Russian drones entering NATO countries’ airspace.
The most recent incidents involved NATO fighter jets have been scrambled above Lithuania tonight to intercept a drone. The country’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, appeared to indirectly blame Russia.
Writing on X, he said: “A drone that just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets. I thank Allied personnel for their swift response. With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region. Together with our NATO Allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace.”
Last week, a Russian drone was reportedly spotted flying over Moldova and towards Romania as Bucharest issued an urgent security alert.
A drone allegedly also entered Moldova’s airspace, and the country’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that it was a “Shahed-type” which entered the airspace from the “direction of Ukraine”.