Russia has denied targeting Polish territory after a barrage of suicide drones were shot down by the country’s air defences – with Warsaw now triggering Article 4 of the Nato treaty and bringing the possibility of WWIII one step closer
Nato needs to “wipe the smirk off Vladimir Putin’s face” with a strong response to the Kremlin dictator’s incursion into Poland overnight, one expert believes.
Last night, a barrage of 19 Russian suicide drones breached the airspace of Poland – a Nato state – as they were apparently knocked off course for their targets in Ukraine. The nation used its robust air defences to pick Putin’s drones from the sky, but blasted Moscow for its “reckless” act of aggression that threatened the safety of Polish citizens.
Poland has now triggered Article 4 – which could lead to Nato members rushing to the aid of Warsaw after the invocation officially noted it felt its territorial sovereignty had been breached by an aggressor.
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Russia has sought to remove itself from the firing line, saying the drones were not intended for Polish targets and had been aimed at locations in western Ukraine, which borders Poland. Russia even said it would be willing to meet the Polish Ministry of Defence regarding the alleged incursions.
Professor Anthony Glees, a renowned expert in European defence and security matters, has told The Mirror this week marks one of the most dangerous weeks in September since the outbreak of WWII in 1939 when Adolf Hitler staged a similar unprovoked attack on Poland.
He explained: “I don’t think there’s been a more dangerous week in September in world history since September 1939, when a war began over an unprovoked attack on Poland by Hitler in lockstep with Stalin.”
When asked whether the world could be on the brink of a third world war, he said that just like the previous world wars, it’s unlikely this one would erupt overnight – “but only a complete idiot could fail to see the direction of travel”.
Prof Glees, who is a lecturer at the University of Buckingham, said that “unless Russia is confronted now, a world war is as inevitable as night follows day”.
“It might not start tomorrow although it might be on the verge of breaking out over the next few days. And no one should be under any illusions that it will happen if Putin is not stopped dead in his tracks”, he said.
The reason Putin is so emboldened is what he sees when he looks at the state of western leadership.
“Let’s be crystal clear about this”, he said. “He sees a US president – in theory the most powerful man in the world – who is committed to ending all wars. But he is either unwilling of incapable of containing an adversary like Russia, or even an ally like Israel.
“He sees the French 5th republic and beleaguered leaders in office in the UK and Germany”.
It’s this vision of his enemies that “looks like a green light to the Russian dictator”, Prof Glees said. “Smirking Putin thinks he’s far smarter than Trump but he also thinks he’s smarter than us here in Europe. He needs to have the smirk wiped off his face.”