Sources: CBS News - REUTERS
The New Cold War got a little bit warmer this Tuesday after two Ukrainian nationals employed by Russia were accused of sabotaging a railway line in Poland this past weekend, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remarked to a state television reporter in Moscow that "Russia is blamed for all manifestations of hybrid and direct warfare currently occurring." He called it "Russophobia".
While addressing the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament, Tusk mentioned that the two suspects had been in long-term collaboration with Russia's intelligence services. He indicated that their identities are known to authorities but could not be disclosed publicly due to ongoing investigations. The two suspects have evaded arrest and already exited Poland.
As CBS reports, NATO allies accuse Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare, while the U.S. is participating in military exercises in Sweden aimed at countering sabotage efforts. Tusk characterized the explosion on a rail line utilized for transporting aid to Ukraine as an "unprecedented act of sabotage."
In another separate incident, power lines along a different segment of the same railway, further south, were also damaged due to sabotage. Earlier on Tuesday, a meeting of the Polish government's National Security Committee occurred, which included military leaders, heads of intelligence services, and a representative from the president’s office.
According to the American Network, military patrols have been deployed to inspect the security of railways and other critical infrastructure in the eastern part of the country. Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into "acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature" aimed at railway infrastructure and conducted for the benefit of foreign intelligence. Also, they issued a statement declaring that these actions posed an immediate threat of a land traffic disaster, endangering the lives and health of many, as well as causing potential large-scale property damage.
In the initial incident, according to CBS, an explosion impacted the tracks near the village of Mika, located approximately 60 miles southeast of Warsaw, while a different incident resulted in the destruction of power lines in the Puławy area, about 30 miles from Lublin. Trains carrying passengers were halted at both sites, but there were no injuries reported.
Tusk noted on Monday that the explosion was most likely intended to derail a train concerning the Mika event. Repair work has been completed at both locations.
A Cold Hybrid War
Meanwhile, an increase in unexplained drone sightings near airports and military installations has raised concerns in Europe regarding reported Russian incursions into NATO airspace. Some of America's allies are asserting that the continent finds itself in a gray area between peace and war, accusing Moscow of intensifying "hybrid warfare."
In September, Poland announced that it had dispatched warplanes to down several Russian drones that had entered its airspace amid Moscow’s recent offensive against Ukraine, labeling the event an "act of aggression."
It's called Russophobia
According to Reuters, the Kremlin, in response, accused Poland on Tuesday of succumbing to Russophobia after Warsaw attributed the railway explosion to two Ukrainian citizens allegedly recruited by Russian intelligence.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remarked to a state television reporter that "Russia is blamed for all manifestations of hybrid and direct warfare currently occurring." He added that in Poland, "everyone is trying to get ahead of the European locomotive in this respect," and noted that Russophobia is certainly flourishing there.
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