UK sending missiles and troops to Poland
THE UK is to deploy a mediumrange missile system and 100 personnel to Poland to “protect her airspace from any further aggression by Russia”, the Defence Secretary has said.
Speaking on a visit to Warsaw, Ben Wallace said Poland – which is taking the brunt of refugees fleeing Ukraine after the country’s invasion by Russia – is a “very old ally”.
He told a news conference: “It is very right that Britain stands by Poland as Poland carries much of the burden of the consequence of this war and stands tall and brave to stand up to the threats from Russia.”
The announcement comes as Nato pledged to send more troops to defend its eastern flank, and just days after Russian missiles struck a military base in Yavoriv, Ukraine, a few miles from the border with Poland.
Downing Street said the deployment of the Sky Sabre system would be “supporting the Polish armed forces at the request of the Polish government”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is, as ever, a purely defensive capability which we are providing on a bilateral basis to Poland. It will remain under UK control at all times.” He said it is a “shortterm deployment”.
The increased support comes as Western officials said the Russian advance on Kyiv remained “bogged down” and there was a question over whether Moscow would mount an assault on the city, previously seen as their main objective. “An illjudged ground assault on a city as well-prepared as Kyiv with really determined and committed defenders would be a very costly business,” one official said. “I think there comes a point where even Russia has to count the cost of casualties.”
Earlier, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said a Russian air strike on Ukrainians sheltering in a theatre “looks to be specific targeting” of a civilian building and a “selfevident breach of international law”.
Survivors began to emerge as authorities worked to rescue hundreds of civilians trapped in the basement of a Mariupol venue where they were bunkered down, with images showing that an entire section of the three-storey building had collapsed after a strike on Wednesday evening.
Shelter officials said it miraculously stood firm, with people “coming out alive”, according to a post on Facebook by Ukrainian MP Sergiy Taruta. Fellow MP Dmytro Gurin told BBC Radio 4’s World At One that it “looks like people are OK” in the theatre – which he said was occupied by around 1,200 people, mostly women and children – after being hit by a “super-powerful bomb”.
The Russian defence ministry has denied bombing the theatre, but Mr Gurin said: “It is impossible it was an accident. It was intentional”.
Mr Cleverly, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether he thought the bombing of the shelter “looked like a war crime”, said: “This looks to be specific targeting of civilian infrastructure and, as I say, that is a selfevident breach of international law and the law of armed conflict.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was a war criminal, told Radio 4’s Women’s Hour: “There is very, very strong evidence that he is.”