Russian war games targeted Poland by air and sea during military training exercises thought to be held in September. Soldiers from Belarus also participated.
According to UK's
Telegraph, documents obtained by
Wprost, a Polish news magazine, revealed a
nuclear training exercise designed for and carried out by approximately 13,000 Russian and Belarusian soldiers targeted Poland as a "potential aggressor." Troops are said to have practiced amphibious landings on the country's shore closest to Russia, and the Russian air force practiced firing nuclear missiles.
Code-named "West," the operation appeared offensive in nature, despite being labeled a defensive exercise. It also focused on suppressing the minority population of Poles in Belarus, who do not get along well with the authoritarian government in Belarus and may aid Polish forces in the event of an attack.
Polish officials are investigating the war games and have already protested to the European Commission. Russia, meanwhile, claims the actions were intended to ensure strategic stability in Eastern Europe.
News of the military exercises caused outrage among Polish citizens, with some saying it was time for people in the country to take a side, and be labeled as patriots or traitors. The simulated attack was significant because it took place on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. Politicians like Poland's Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel, who wrote an open letter to U.S. president Barack Obama in July 2009 regarding Russian imperialist aggression, think a strengthened Russia is displaying its power and countries along its borders should be worried that similar exercises will target them.
Though Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has tried to introduce a diplomatic relationship between the two nations, many Poles are suspicious of Russia, and many think the country is trying to regain the control it wielded during the days of the Soviet Union. Poland was under Soviet control for 40 years.
