Poland: West responds to Russian attacks in language Putin understands

Poland has called on the West to respond to Russia after Moscow carried out two massive air strikes in Ukraine and Kiev responded with attacks on Russian border regions and the occupied Crime.

At least five people were killed and dozens more were injured in Russian attacks with fears and rockets in and around Kiev, but also in Harkiv on January 2nd. The Ukrainian Army had reported attacks on the same scale days earlier.

On January 3rd, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, said the West should respond to attacks “in language that [Russian president Vladimir] Putin understands: stiffening sanctions so that it cannot produce other weapons with smuggled components and giving Kiev long-range missiles to action that would enable it to carry out attacks in places from where Russia carried out attacks and at command centres”.

Days ago, Putin has said that his state will “intensify” the attacks on Ukraine, pushing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to accuse Moscow of asking for “nothing at” Ukraine.

Germany “will stay with the people of Ukraine as long as necessary”, she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The increase in deadly attacks, most of which are aimed at populated areas, has prompted France's ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivier, to declare he is pessimistic about the course of events in Ukraine.

According to him, the situation in Ukraine has deteriorated dramatically.

Earlier in January 3rd, Ukrainian fears attacked Crime, the peninsula Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and two Russian regions on the Ukrainian border.

Russian authorities have not reported casualties from attacks in border regions. But last week, as a result of the attacks Moscow has said were carried out by Ukraine, 25 people were killed in the Russian region of Belgorod.

Ukraine is urging Western allies to speed up shipments of long-range air defence systems of missiles, combat drones, in order to counter Russian attacks.