Ukraine endured another wave of Russian missile strikes and blackouts on Wednesday as Poland accused Moscow of conducting an international sabotage campaign that included a plot to launch terror attacks “against airlines all over the world”.
“Another massive Russian attack. It’s the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains unchanged: our energy infrastructure. Among their objectives were gas and energy facilities that sustain normal life for our people,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after strikes on several areas of eastern and western Ukraine.
“Over 40 missiles were launched in this attack, including ballistic missiles. At least 30 were destroyed. Additionally, more than 70 Russian attack drones were launched overnight.”
Power cuts swept much of Ukraine as Mr Zelenskiy arrived in Warsaw to meet Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, for what a top aide to the Ukrainian leader said would be talks on “war, weapons, sanctions, history [and] weakening of Russian energy as a tool for financing the war”.
Mr Tusk echoed accusations from many Nato leaders that Russia was conducting a campaign of “hybrid” attacks against western targets – including assassinations, cyber attacks and cutting undersea cables and jamming GPS signals in the Baltic region.
“These acts of sabotage are versions of the war that Russia has declared on the entire world, not just Ukraine. They require joint action, and Poland plays a key role in countering acts of sabotage and subversion that have occurred not only on Polish territory,” he said. “All I can say – and I will not go into details, but I can confirm the validity of these fears – is that Russia had planned acts of air terror, and not only against Poland but against airlines all over the world.”
Mr Tusk may have been referring to Russia’s alleged role in sending packages containing incendiary devices that exploded at logistics depots in Poland, Germany and Britain last year, in what western intelligence officials say was a test run for an operation that could have caused fires on cargo planes flying to North America. Moscow denies involvement in any such operation.
The Ukrainian and Polish leaders also discussed weapons supplies to Kyiv, the security guarantees it wants from western allies as part of any future deal to stop the war, and the possibility of an international peacekeeping force being deployed to Ukraine if Europe’s heaviest fighting in 80 years comes to an end.
Mr Tusk said they were also “finding a common language” and seeking “a systemic solution” to Poland’s request to exhume the bodies of some 100,000 Poles who were killed by Ukrainian nationalists during the second World War. Thousands of Ukrainians also died in Polish reprisals.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
