Russia has conducted acts of sabotage worldwide, including “acts of air terror” against airlines, the Polish prime minister has claimed.
Security officials have said that parcels that exploded at logistics depots in Europe were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. The explosions occurred in depots in Britain, Germany and Poland in July.
Speaking at a press conference in Warsaw alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Tusk said: “The latest information can confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of terrorism in the air not only against Poland.”
He did not say what acts he was referring to or elaborate on the contents of the information.
The Kremlin has dismissed previous Western claims that Russia sponsored acts of sabotage and attacks in Europe.
Azerbaijan has also accused Russia of unintentionally shooting down an Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas day, killing 38 people. Mr Putin apologised for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.
The pro-European Union government in Warsaw said that Russia is pursuing acts of hybrid war against Poland and other Western countries in retaliation for their support for Poland’s neighbour Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Elsewhere during the conference, Mr Tusk vowed to use his country’s presidency of the European Union to push forward with Ukraine’s membership quest.
Poland now holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, the 27-member bloc that Ukraine aspires to join, and Warsaw will have the influence to put the issue high on the agenda for the next half year.
It comes as Russia launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid.
Mr Zelensky said that the Russian forces launched over 40 missiles during the morning attack and used more than 70 drones overnight, in a new barrage against the struggling power system in the depths of winter.
The Russian defence ministry confirmed it launched a strike on “critically important facilities of gas and energy infrastructure that ensure the functioning of Ukraine’s military industrial complex.” It didn’t give the target locations or other details.
The barrage came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry vowed a response to what it said was an attack on Russian soil using multiple Western-supplied missiles.
The capital Kyiv also came under attack, with hundreds of residents taking shelter in underground metro stations across the capital, sleeping on yoga mats and sitting on folded chairs with their pets.
The governor of Ukraine’s western Lviv region said two energy facilities, in the Drohobych and Stryi districts, were damaged. In neighbouring Ivano-Frankivsk, the governor said air defences were fending off Russian attacks on facilities.
Russia has stepped up its bombardments of Ukraine‘s power sector and other energy infrastructure since March 2024, knocking out half of the available generating capacity and forcing long, rolling blackouts across the country.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 25 prisoners of war each after negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Zelensky thanked the UAE, which has brokered similar swaps before, for its assistance “in making today’s event possible.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
