This month's news highlights

Newsmark

Russia threatens to strike Poland, Warsaw responds

Citing Polish news portal RMF 24, Ukrainska Pravda has reported Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the opening of a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, labelling it a provocation and threatening a possible strike against the facility. In response, Warsaw dismissed Moscow’s claims as inadequate.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the deployment “raises the overall level of the nuclear threat” and that Russia considers the base a priority target and would be ready to strike it with its available means “if necessary.”

In response, Paweł Wroński, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, emphasised that the base is purely defensive in nature.

“Its purpose is to intercept ballistic missiles, particularly from countries whose policies rely on constant threats and declarations of potential invasions. If Russia renews its threats, it means that in the future, the U.S. and NATO will have to strengthen air defences along the entire eastern flank to make such threats unrealistic to carry out,” Wroński said.

He added that Russia’s threats are based on incorrect assumptions and claims that the base houses

nuclear weapons, “which is absurd.”

The U.S. missile defense base in Redzikowo, located in Poland’s Pomeranian Voivodeship, was officially inaugurated on November 13. This marks the first permanent facility of the U.S. Army on Polish soil.

Shows Support for Weaponry

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski praised Joe Biden’s permission for Ukraine to strike into Russia with U.S.-made weapons, following months of talks between Washington and Kyiv.

The decision allows Kyiv to use long-range U.S.-made ATACMS missiles to hit Russian territory. The lifting of the ban came on the same day Russia struck the Ukrainian power grid, triggering power outages and killing at least seven. The decision comes as Russia continues to advance in the Donetsk region. Putin is now using North Korean troops in the field.

Russian officials and Kremlin-backed media bashed the West over what they said was an escalatory step, and threatened a harsh response from Moscow. “Biden, apparently, decided to end his presidential term and go down in history as ‘Bloody Joe’,” senior lawmaker Leonid Slutsky told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Throws Hat in Ring

In a surprise move, Foreign Minister Sikorski announced he was entering the race to the country’s Presidential Palace next May. Until now Warsaw’s front-running Jewish Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski was widely expected to become the country’s next head of state. Both he and Sikorski are members of Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party. The Oxford-educated, Sikorski speaks impeccable English. Originally he had served as foreign minister in the first Law & Justice government in the early 21st century.

Shuts Down Russian Embassy

Poland has mandated the closure of one of Russia’s consulates and the departure of its personnel due to alleged acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare by Moscow. The foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has revoked authorization for the operation of Russia’s consulate in Poznań, and diplomatic personnel will be deemed personae non gratae within Poland’s territory. The ministry stated that Russian security services report the country is engaging in a type of hybrid warfare against Poland, targeting Poland’s eastern border, which coincides with the Schengen area boundary. Sikorski insists that Russian authorities terminate such actions against Poland and their allies, and that Poland retains the right to undertake additional decisive measures if such actions recur.

Government Mandates Security for Journalist

Investigative journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski has received special protection from Poland’s secret service after he reported threats against him over his latest book. Titled Putin’s Spies: How The Kremlin’s People Are Taking Over Poland, it exposes the inner workings of Russian influence in Poland. Rzeczkowski is a reporter for the Polish version of Newsweek and director of the Center for Disinformation Research at /Collegium Civitas, a university in Warsaw.