A story that I do not believe is receiving sufficient attention is that of the Russian drones over Poland. At the Wall Street Journal Daniel Michaels, Karolina Jeznach, and Thomas Grove report:
WARSAW—Just before midnight on Tuesday, NATO sensors scanning for hostile aircraft spotted drones infiltrating Poland’s eastern border from Ukraine and Belarus.
Fighter pilots from the military alliance were already in the air preparing to lock on and shoot them down.
What unfolded over the course of the night marked a moment in North Atlantic Treaty Organization history: the first time its warplanes engaged Russian aerial weapons over an alliance member’s territory.
“This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told lawmakers in the hours afterward.
NATO surveillance planes and jet fighters are regularly deployed above Poland when large attacks on Ukraine threaten to spill over into allied territory, but the direct engagement marked a significant escalation in the game of cat-and-mouse between Russian drones entering alliance airspace and NATO aircraft sent to deter them.
It seems to me there’s some urgency in determining what the heck is going on. If Russian drones and/or aircraft straying into Polish airspace is a commonplace, why are the Polish reacting as they are? If that’s not a commonplace, how do the Russians think we should respond? How would they respond in a similar situation?
It’s a false flag op. As the Russians noted, that drone does not have the range to get from a Russian launcher to Poland.
US/NATO started this war with the 2014 coup, forced Ukraine to continue it by vetoing the Istanbul agreement, and are now maneuvering to keep it going any way they can.
Our Ruling Class is evil. They are the most likely employers of Kirk’s killers.
bob sykes: As the Russians noted, that drone does not have the range to get from a Russian launcher to Poland.
You should look at any statement from Russia with great skepticism. Debris from Shahed-type drones were recovered in Poland. Shahed drones have a range of hundreds of kilometers, more than sufficient to cross from Russia proper to eastern Poland.
The Russians aren’t thinking, or more likely thinking they are winning and they can afford to send a message to Europe.
The intriguing bit is if this or a subsequent incursion will move Europe to impose secondary sanctions / tariffs on China and India. It would be the equivalent of triggering mutually assured recession for everyone involved in the Ukraine war.
Were the drones launched from Russia or Belarus?
Steve
steve: Were the drones launched from Russia or Belarus?
Ukraine said they were launched from Russia proper, passing through Belarus to avoid Ukrainian countermeasures. Belarus said they alerted Poland about the drones passing over their territory. Polish newspapers, including Rzeczpospolita, confirmed this based on sources in the Polish government.
The Russians have regularly launched drones to hit Lviv / Lvov which is 70km from the Polish border from 100km east of Russia’s border with Ukraine flying across the width of Ukraine (which is 1300km). An extra 70km is nothing technically.
One working theory involves the placement of air defense systems.
Poland’s air defense systems.
If sending drones into Poland influences the Poles to leave their systems where they are and not send some to Ukraine as planned then Putin’s strategy of taking out the Ukrainians energy infrastructure before winter is enhanced.