 "Wagner troops inch closer to Polish border, nation fears 'hybrid attack'")
A group of a hundred soldiers from the Wagner Group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, the Polish Prime Minister said in a news conference late on Saturday.
Poland is a member of both the European Union and NATO and has been concerned about the possible spillover of war on to its territory ever since Russian invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this month, Poland began moving more than 1,000 troops to the east of the country amid rising concerns that the presence of Wagner fighters in Belarus could lead to increased tension on
its border.
“The situation is getting increasingly dangerous ... Most likely they (the Wagner personnel) will be disguised as the Belarusian border guard and help illegal migrants get to the Polish territory (and) destabilise Poland,” Morawiecki said at a press conference in Gliwice, western Poland.
“This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory”, he added
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While Poland is concerned about hybrid attack by Wagner troops, drones hit two office towers in Moscow’s prestigious business district and prompted the temporary closure of one of the city’s international airports during an overnight attack that Russia blamed on Ukraine.
Two drones that hit buildings in the Moscow City development were brought down using electronic jamming, while a third was shot down by air defenses in Moscow region, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram statement Sunday. Ukraine hasn’t commented.
Vnukovo airport halted operations for several hours before later resuming work, the state-run Tass news service reported. It’s the second time this month that flights at the airport have been disrupted over a drone assault, following an incident on July 4.
Amid drone attacks, navy parade was organised in Russia where President Vladimir Putin reviewed a parade of warships and nuclear submarines in his native St Petersburg on Sunday and announced that the Russian Navy would receive 30 new ships this year.
Forty-five ships, submarines and other vessels took part in Russia’s annual Navy Day event, a traditional show of military might which takes place in the Gulf of Finland and on the River Neva in St Petersburg. Around 3,000 navy personnel also took part in a parade on land, the Kremlin said.
Putin, accompanied by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the head of the Navy, inspected some of the ships from a launch boat on the Neva before making a speech.
“Today, Russia is confidently implementing the large-scale tasks of our national maritime policy and is consistently building up the strength of our Navy,” said Putin.
“This year alone, 30 ships of different classes are being added to the fleet,” he said.