Poland neutralizes drone over government sites, detains two Belarusians • FRANCE 24 English

Poland neutralizes drone over government sites, detains two Belarusians • FRANCE 24 English

Well, let’s talk more about this with France 24’s correspondent, Guliver Kra, who joins us from Keev. Guliver, just give us the latest on this situation. What are you hearing from uh Keev about what happened in Poland today? Well, I’ve been looking at what the polls have been saying. I was just checking to see if there’s any new information, but they don’t seem to have said what type of drones these were. They I mean, this drone was that was neutralized is the word that they’ve been using. It was flying over the Belvadier which is a palace in Warsaw used by the president and for official functions in general and very nearby perhaps more importantly the cabinet of ministers building where Donald Tusk the prime minister’s office is and it was Donald Tusk who commented it directly. The one piece of information that um he said which I think is quite important to stress is that these drones did not fly into Poland from across any border. They were clearly launched somewhere nearby. It’s that kind of drone. As you said, I think two Bellarusian citizens have been arrested in connection with this incident. That’s all we know so far. And Galiva, this is of course coming at a time of heightened tensions as the Kremlin already declares that it’s at war with NATO already. Yes. I mean, I think everyone in Poland and around Europe assumes that this is all linked to the war that Russia launched against Ukraine. um and that this drone in water is connected with that in some way and that this is all about tensions not just between Russia and Ukraine but between NATO and Russia. It’s certainly not the first time that the Russians have alluded to this idea, but they do sort of mince their words about it because on the one hand side, they don’t want to sort of declare war against NATO or do anything that would encourage hawks within NATO to take more action against Russia in connection with its war against Ukraine. On the other hand, they don’t want to admit that they weren’t able to simply overcome Ukraine. And that’s in a way true that without NATO’s help, the help of allies, many of Ukraine’s allies, most of them are in NATO, um the Russians would probably have had a lot more success here than um than they did. I mean, the fact of the matter is that more and more of the weaponry used in Ukraine with each passing month is actually made in Ukraine and developed in Ukraine. But certainly NATO assistance has been crucial to Ukraine’s defense and he certainly hopes that it will continue to to to be that way. I’m not sure whether or not the new declarations coming from Dmitri Pescov today really indicate an uptick or a escalation in the Russian rhetoric. But the um incursion of 19 or 20 or 21 drones quite far into Polish airspace a few days ago and then just a couple of days later one was flying around in Romanian airspace for 50 minutes. According to the Ukrainian President Bodir Zalinski, those actions certainly are being seen as a kind of escalation. And Gala, where does this all leave NATO? Do you think they’re going to provide uh aerial supports, maybe close the airspace in Ukraine? Well, Ukraine, if you remember, in 2022, Ukrainian leaders and Ukrainian public opinion and social media were crying out for NATO to close the sky over Ukraine. And at the time that was deemed to be impossible because it would involve NATO armies bombing targets within Russia. And that probably is still the case. But there’s another reason why it’s practically not really possible for NATO to close the sky over Ukraine um now. And that is that the battlefield or maybe we should call it the the airfield the air the sky has completely been transformed by the use of drones. um only 19 or 20 or 21, sorry for this ambiguity about the figures, drones crossed into Polish airspace and they weren’t even able to shoot them all down or perhaps they just decided they couldn’t afford to because it cost millions of dollars for the missiles used to shoot them down over Ukraine. There have been the record number was more than 800 in a single night of these Russian attack drones and these are ones that do have warheads on flying around in Ukrainian skies. The only two countries that have the capacity to counter that kind of attack, as Wadomir Zilinski clearly stated, and it’s true, are Ukraine and Russia because they are the only two countries that have been fighting this kind of modern war. So now what the Ukrainians are hoping for is for the Europeans, the polls in particular, to need their help, to need their technology to get the kinds of systems that you can um shoot drones down reasonably cheaply with. And they’re hoping that they’re going to get something in return from NATO. um for their assistance to NATO and that might well come in the form of um missiles perhaps more importantly than drones being shot down by Polish air defense systems maybe Romanian air defense systems as well the ones that are flying uh within range in western parts of Ukraine within range of those countries air defense systems but that doesn’t amount to closing the sky which sounds like a rather grandio and wonderful thing but I think that that is simply something that Ukrainians can only dream of now for practical as well as political and geop political reasons. Galva, appreciate that update. Thank you so much for bringing us up to speed there.

Poland’s State Protection Service (SOP) has neutralized a drone operating over sensitive government locations, including Parkowa Street and the Belweder Palace, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X, amid heightened regional tensions following recent airspace violations. FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv.
#Poland #Russia #Ukraine

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