Polish troops deploy near Poland’s eastern border<\/p>\n
POLAND has deployed 40,000 troops to its eastern front as Vladimir Putin launches his WW3 drills in Belarus.<\/p>\n
Barbed wire and metal barricades were seen at Polish border <\/a>crossings with the former Soviet state, as authorities announced “all checkpoints” would be shut from midnight today.<\/p>\n The Zapad drills<\/a> – meaning “West” in Russian – take place every four years and entail chilling mock military exercises, which Polish PM Donald Tusk has called “very aggressive” and “offensive”.<\/p>\n Polish Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said: \u201cPoland has been preparing for the Zapad-2025 manoeuvres for many months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Polish Army has conducted exercises in which over 30,000 Polish soldiers, as well as soldiers of the NATO alliance, took part in order to adequately respond.<\/p>\n \u201cLet’s remember that Zapad-2025 is an offensive exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2017, the drills involved creating fictional scenarios, which saw Russia capture Baltic states, bomb Germany and invade neutral countries.<\/p>\n Russia\u00a0insisted it was purely rehearsing a defence strategy, but Nato\u00a0officials warned the exercises were a “serious preparation for war”.<\/p>\n And in 2021, the drills led to Belarus’s rearmament, with weapons later deployed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n In a powerful display of solidarity, several Nato members, including the UK, have sent reinforcements to Poland, including troops, artillery, and air defence systems.<\/p>\n The UK already has around 300 troops in Poland as part of a “regular air policing mission” – and Defence Secretary John Healey vowed to “do what we can” to make that more robust.<\/p>\n That could mean increasing the number of\u00a0boots\u00a0on the ground in the eastern European nation.<\/p>\n The border closures have sparked outrage in Russia as Putin fumed they would cause “serious harm” to the transit of goods.<\/p>\n Accusing Tusk of engaging in “confrontational steps” and “further escalating tensions” he urged the PM to \u201cconsider the consequences of such destructive steps – and reconsider the decision as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n It comes as 19 Russian drones invaded Polish airspace<\/a> on Wednesday night – forcing Warsaw to shoot them down and trigger\u00a0Nato\u00a0Article 4, one below the threshold of war.<\/p>\n It marked the first time since\u00a0Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that Nato has directly engaged with Vlad’s forces – pushing Europe inches closer to an all-out war<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tusk warned Putin: “Anyone who decides in any way to attack Poland,\u00a0Polish territory or Polish airspace, will always have to reckon with an adequate reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n The Polish site the drones are thought to have been targeting is providing military supplies to\u00a0Ukraine, German newspaper Die Welt reported.<\/p>\n Citing a high-ranking Nato officer the paper said: “Based on current information, we assume that the drones most likely intentionally entered Nato airspace<\/a>.”<\/p>\n According to Zelensky, the swooping devices were a “test” by Russia to see how Nato allies would respond.<\/p>\n Answering calls from Poland and Ukraine, the UK yesterday vowed it would step up to meet Putin’s challenge and Nato vowed to defend “every inch” of allied land.<\/p>\n Healey condemned Russia\u2019s “reckless, dangerous and unprecedented\u201d escalation after meeting with E5 defence officials from Germany, France and Italy – with Poland’s defence minister diverted by the crisis.<\/p>\n He said: “Following our discussions today, I’ve asked our UK Armed Forces to look at options to bolster Nato’s air defence over\u00a0Poland.”<\/p>\n Sir Keir Starmer condemned Russia’s “egregious and unprecedented violation” of Nato airspace and slammed it as proof of Putin\u2019s \u201cblatant disregard for peace\u201d.<\/p>\n He said he had spoken to Polish PM Donald Tusk to show Britain\u2019s support, adding: \u201cMy sincere thanks go to the NATO and Polish forces who rapidly responded to protect the Alliance.”<\/p>\n