Polish fighters reportedly killed in battle for separatist Donetsk region (Photos: EPA / Getty)
Nearly 100 Polish fighters have been killed in the battle for Ukrainian separatist states, Russia claims.
As the war in Ukraine continues to rage in the country’s eastern region, tensions between the Kremlin and Europe are escalating.
Most recently, Moscow’s defense ministry said its troops had destroyed “up to 80 Polish fighters, 20 armored combat vehicles and eight Grad multiple rocket launchers during precise strikes on the Megatex zinc plant in Konstantinovka.”
This is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, over which Vladimir Putin is trying to take full control.
In the Russian city of Smolensk, Kremlin authorities removed the Polish flag from the Katyn Memorial, erected in memory of 25,000 Poles killed by Soviet police in 1940.
Most of the victims are army officers believed to be anti-communists who were killed on the orders of Joseph Stalin in a forest near the city.
Russia is currently advancing in eastern Ukraine (Photo: Getty) The Polish flag has been removed from the Katyn memorial, 25,000 Poles have been killed (Photo: PA)
The Soviet Union tried to deny responsibility and blame the Nazis for the massacre, but they eventually admitted the atrocity in 1990.
Speaking about the removal of the flag, Smolensk Mayor Andrei Borisov said: “There can be no Polish flags on Russian monuments. Even less so after the frankly anti-Russian comments of Polish political leaders.
“The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has made the right decision by removing the Polish flag. Katyn is a Russian memorial.
Poland has supported Ukraine since Putin sent troops across the border in February.
It has supplied arms and received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees from any European country – about 1.1 million.
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As a NATO member, a military strike against Poland would mean that all other members, including Britain, would jump to its defense.
The Kremlin also recently threatened Lithuania to block EU-sanctioned goods from reaching the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Kaliningrad has land borders with Lithuania and Poland and is isolated from the rest of Russia.
The goods usually reach the territory by rail through Belarus and Lithuania – there are no transport routes through Poland.
Russia is still able to deliver Kaliningrad by sea without violating EU sanctions, but has asked Lithuania to lift its ban, warning that if transport links are not fully restored, “Russia reserves the right to take action to protect national your interests. “
Lithuania is also a member of NATO, so any attack on it will be seen as an attack on the alliance.
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