A former Polish army chief has accused Boris Johnson of “tempting evil”, revealing that Ukrainian soldiers were trained in Poland on how to use British anti-aircraft missiles before returning to Ukraine with them.
General Waldemar Sksipczak, also a former junior defense minister, complained that the disbanded prime minister had revealed too much to the Russians and that his remarks risked the safety of the soldiers involved.
Speaking to the Polish tabloid Fakt, Sksipczak said Johnson had revealed a “military secret” and that “bad words are on his lips” when he gave details of Ukraine’s training plan during a trip to India last week.
“Military training is a matter for the army, in such a situation it is a secret. Let one restrain oneself and think before saying such things, “the former general told the newspaper, describing his tone as irritated in a Friday article.
“The prime minister may not be aware of this, but with such statements he risks the success of the entire military operation, as well as the safety of the soldiers,” Sksipcak said. “Such statements are a tempting evil.”
During the visit, Johnson revealed that Ukrainians have been trained in how to use NATO-standard weapons in both Poland and the United Kingdom. “I can say that we are currently training Ukrainians in Poland on the use of air defense, and in fact in the UK on the use of armored vehicles,” he said.
British forces in Poland are training the Ukrainian military to use Starstreak anti-aircraft missile systems. It will probably be several weeks before they can be deployed on the front line to target Russian helicopters and planes.
Russia has been irritated by increased arms supplies from the West to Ukraine since its unprovoked invasion two months ago. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused NATO of “engaging in war with Russia through a proxy and arming this proxy.”
Lavrov added that weapons supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target” and that Russian forces have already struck arms depots in western Ukraine. But despite the threats, Russia is not likely to pursue them in NATO countries for fear of retaliation.
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Western countries deny that NATO has become a party to the conflict. A Western official said Wednesday: “There is a Russian story that this is a proxy war between Russia and NATO. Is not.” He added: “We have the right to provide military support to any country that exercises its right to self-defense.”
Skshipchak said he was concerned about how much detail Johnson was prepared to enter. “It’s hard to imagine that when we were on missions abroad, some of the politicians would talk about our plans or training on television.
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