Russia simulates nuclear attack on Poland: report
- Source: Global Times
- [08:35 November 03 2009]
- Comments
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) talks as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin listens during their meeting at a hotel in Sopot, northern Poland, September 1, 2009.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Russia has provoked outrage in Poland by simulating a nuclear attack on the country during military exercises, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.
In war games called "Operation West," armed forces of Russia and Belarus simulated an amphibious landing on the Polish coast and the firing of nuclear weapons.
The information was revealed by weekly "Wprost," which came across documents describing the maneuvers that were supposedly held in September and involved about 13,000 Russian and Belarusian troops.
Poland, which has strained relations with both countries, was described as a "potential aggressor."
Russia practiced its "defense," which included firing nuclear missiles, attacking Polish beaches from Kaliningrad, attacking a gas pipeline and suppressing a Polish minority uprising in Belarus.
The documents state that many of the operations appeared to have an offensive nature, although Moscow and Minsk have insisted that Operation West was to help "ensure the strategic stability in the East European region."
This revelation has caused rage and fury in Poland among politicians and ordinary Poles.
Karol Karski, a member of parliament from Poland's Law and Justice party, is expected to table parliamentary questions on Russia's war games and has protested to the European Commission.
"It's an attempt to put us in our place. Don't forget all this happened on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland," Karski's colleague Marek Opiola said.
"Russia has laid bare its real intentions with respect to Poland. Every Pole must now get off the fence and be counted as a patriot or a traitor," one man identified only as Ted told Polskie Radio.
