Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Poland's parliament on Thursday that Russian plans in the war against Ukraine include "hybrid" drone and missile strikes against countries supporting Kyiv, including Poland, and that there was a real risk drones could fall on the territory of one or more NATO states on the eastern flank, according to ABC News Australia and The Straits Times. The same day, Poland scrambled military aircraft, temporarily closed the airports in Rzeszow and Lublin and issued air raid warnings in two eastern regions after a Russian attack in western Ukraine near the Polish border, The Straits Times reported. Russia and Ukraine also exchanged the bodies of 275 soldiers at a border crossing in Belarus, handing over 252 and 23 bodies respectively, according to Belarusian state media and officials cited by The Moscow Times and The Jerusalem Post. Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election for all 450 State Duma seats, the first since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party widely expected to keep its dominant position, The Times of India reported.
Poland alleges Russian plan for 'hybrid' strikes on Ukraine's allies as Russia and Ukraine exchange 275 bodies
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Poland's parliament on Thursday that Russian plans in the war against Ukraine include "hybrid" drone and missile strikes against countries supporting Kyiv, including Poland, and that there was a real risk drones could fall on the territory of one or more NATO states on the eastern flank, according to ABC News Australia and The Straits Times. The same day, Poland scrambled military aircraft, temporarily closed the airports in Rzeszow and Lublin and issued air raid warnings in two eastern regions after a Russian attack in western Ukraine near the Polish border, The Straits Times reported. Russia and Ukraine also exchanged the bodies of 275 soldiers at a border crossing in Belarus, handing over 252 and 23 bodies respectively, according to Belarusian state media and officials cited by The Moscow Times and The Jerusalem Post. Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election for all 450 State Duma seats, the first since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party widely expected to keep its dominant position, The Times of India reported.
Tusk told deputies that, according to intelligence assessments, the Russian plan includes hybrid strikes using drones and missiles on countries supporting Ukraine, ABC News Australia reported. He said such incidents could cause destruction while Moscow's official narrative would be that they were accidents, and that the aim was to weaken NATO's cohesion and convince member states that Article 5 is more theoretical than practical. The Straits Times reported that Tusk described the potential strikes as "accidental" in nature and intended to paralyse or at least weaken the resolve of NATO states to invoke the relevant provisions in the event of aggression against a member. Tusk did not say which intelligence agencies had provided the warning, and the Russian Embassy in Warsaw did not immediately reply to a request for comment, according to The Straits Times.
The Straits Times reported that European countries suspect Moscow of being behind a series of acts of sabotage in recent months aimed at pressuring Ukraine's allies, particularly Germany, a charge the Kremlin has vigorously denied. ABC News Australia reported that Poland, a NATO and EU member on the alliance's eastern flank, has accused Russia of sabotage several times since the 2022 invasion and has become the main hub for transporting Western military and humanitarian support to Kyiv.
In its account of the airspace alert, The Straits Times said residents of two eastern regions received warnings, local media reported sirens and pupils sheltering in some schools, and that a Russian drone had hit a passenger train in Ukraine on Sunday about two kilometres from the Polish border. Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X that Poland was strengthening airspace protection, with increased F-16 and helicopter activity and reinforced air defence and rapid response systems.
The sources differ in their accounts of Tusk's planned Friday visit to Ukraine. ABC News Australia reported he would meet Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico there, while The Straits Times reported Tusk said he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss cooperation within the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, described as a group of European countries developing an air defence system with Ukraine as a cheaper alternative to the US-built Patriot.
Separately, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that progress was being made toward establishing a US Army base in Poland, crediting what he called the bold leadership of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, ABC News Australia reported. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the location would be announced very soon if it happened. Poland has pushed for a larger allied presence on NATO's eastern flank since Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022; Polish Defence Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said in June that the US Department of Defense was open to Poland's offer to host a permanent US military presence but that no decision had been taken, and Poland has so far hosted US troops on a rotational basis.
On the exchange of remains, The Moscow Times reported that Russia handed over 252 bodies and received 23 at the Novaya Guta border crossing point in Belarus, according to Shamsail Saraliyev, a State Duma lawmaker from United Russia and member of a parliamentary group on the conflict, who spoke to the RBC news outlet. Belarusian state news agency Belta said Belarus was continuing its humanitarian mission, according to the report. Ukraine's military confirmed the swap and credited its search teams for working despite drone strikes, remote mining and shelling, and Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said law enforcement agencies would work to identify the 252 returned bodies and that the International Committee of the Red Cross assisted, The Moscow Times reported. The Jerusalem Post, citing Belarusian state news agency BELTA, also reported the 252-to-23 exchange at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. The Moscow Times said the previous exchange took place on Aug. 13, when Russia received 24 fallen soldiers and Ukraine received 261.
The Times of India reported that polling stations opened first in Russia's Far East, including Kamchatka and Chukotka, with voting continuing until Sunday. United Russia is competing against the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia and New People; the anti-war Yabloko party, which had been cleared to contest, was later removed from the ballot by Russia's Supreme Court. The election also includes voting in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, which Ukraine has rejected as illegal and says will have no legal validity. The Times of India, citing analysts cited by Reuters, said the vote would also provide a measure of public sentiment as the conflict affects Russia's economy and population.
Where sources differ
- The two sources that describe Tusk's planned Friday trip to Ukraine give different counterparts and purposes: ABC News Australia reports he will meet Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, while The Straits Times reports he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition. Neither report contradicts the other.
- The Jerusalem Post locates the body exchange at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, while The Moscow Times names the Novaya Guta border crossing point in Belarus. The figures given (252 handed over by Russia, 23 returned by Ukraine) match across both.
- No source identifies which intelligence agencies provided the warning behind Tusk's allegation, and none provides independent verification of it; the Russian Embassy in Warsaw did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
- No source reports a direct Russian government response to Tusk's specific allegation beyond the Kremlin's earlier, general denial of sabotage, and no source reports a Russian response to Ukraine's rejection of voting in Russian-controlled areas.
- No source gives election turnout, results, or any assessment by domestic or international observers, and none names the specific date on which voting began beyond 'Friday'.
- No source reports the reasoning of Russia's Supreme Court in removing Yabloko from the ballot, and no comment from Yabloko is included.
- No source identifies the 275 individuals whose remains were exchanged, gives the circumstances or locations of their deaths, or states how many exchanges have taken place in total.
- No source states whether any decision has been taken on a permanent US military presence or base in Poland beyond Trump's statement that progress was being made.
- No source reports the number of drones or missiles involved in the attack on western Ukraine that prompted Poland's alert, or any damage or casualties from it.
- The Times of India — original — by TRISHA MAHAJAN
- ABC News Australia
- The Straits Times — by The Straits Times
- The Jerusalem Post — by REUTERS
- The Moscow Times — by The Moscow Times
Read the original at The Times of India