Hundreds protest Poland involvement in Ukraine war in Warsaw
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Demonstrators in Poland took to the streets of the capital to protest their country's involvement in Ukraine.
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A screengrab from a video depicting the protests in Warsaw, Poland on January 21, 2023 (Social Media)
Hundreds of people took part in a protest organized by the Polish patriotic organization "Compatriots – Comrades" in Warsaw to protest against the country's involvement in the Ukraine war, an RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Saturday.
The participants, carrying Polish flags and banners with the slogans "Who wants Polish blood, get out!", "Poland chooses peace!", gathered in downtown Warsaw and marched toward Sigismund's Column.
A rally against #Poland's involvement in the war with #Russia takes place in Warsaw. pic.twitter.com/FNATzLjLMq
— Newsistaan (@newsistaan) January 21, 2023
Some protesters were also seen carrying banners bearing Russian phrases.
The organizers of the march issued a statement expressing their dissatisfaction with what they see as "Polish-language politicians and the Polish-language media pounding into the heads and hearts of Poles with pro-war propaganda."
"Peace should reign in Poland," the statement said. Those encouraging Polish citizens to participate in the Ukraine war "must be brought to justice."
Officials in Warsaw claim that Poland is the world's second-biggest donor in terms of military assistance to Ukraine, outpaced only by the United States. Poland supplies Ukraine with tanks, artillery, drones, other weapons, and ammunition.
This comes a day after reports about Poland drawing up an application for mobile devices that would show residents the location of the nearest bomb shelter.
"Within a few weeks, an application, indicating the nearest shelter place for residents, could be made available. It is ready," Polish radio station RMF FM quoted State Fire Service Chief Commandant Andrzej Bartkowiak as saying.
The chief commandant explained that the app would be integrated with the pre-existing 112 emergency app, noting that it was now at the final stage of being checked and tested before release.
Back in mid-November, two missiles fell in the Polish village of Przewodów in the Lubelskie Voivodeship near the border with Ukraine, prompting Warsaw to call for an emergency national security council meeting.
It is noteworthy that Warsaw currently has 62,000 shelters at its disposal, according to Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski.
This number means that this figure would only be able to accommodate around 1.3 million people or just over 3% of the population.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said in the aftermath that the explosion that hit Poland was "likely caused" by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to intercept an incoming Russian missile.
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks," the NATO chief told reporters after an emergency meeting of the alliance's Security Council.
Due to uncertainty regarding the party that fired the missile, Poland suggested at the time invoking NATO's Article 4, which means that the alliance's members "consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened."
The Russian Defense Ministry responded by saying that Poland's about "Russian missiles" were a deliberate provocation to try and escalate the situation.
"Statements by the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of 'Russian' missiles in the area of the settlement of Przewodow is a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation. No strikes were made against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border by Russian weapons," the ministry said at the time.
