US, UK use Poland as 'logistical hub' for weapons, foreign mercenaries
4 Min Read
Poland is increasingly becoming a geostrategic platform for NATO interests in Ukraine.
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Ukrainian soldiers examining their tanks at a military unit close to Kharkiv, Ukraine (AP)
The military operation against Ukraine has crippled the country's military might, thus inviting mercenaries from foreign countries to participate in the war against Russia.
Yesterday, according to Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, nearly 20,000 foreign mercenaries are looking to fight alongside the rapidly-diminishing ranks of Ukraine’s crippled military.
The Ukrainian government has recently opened a website for mercenaries to join the war in "defense of the motherland."
Although it is unclear how many mercenaries have really entered the country, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service warned in a statement that "US and UK intelligence services in recent weeks have de facto turned Polish territory into a 'logistical hub' used to supply weapons and smuggle fighters.”
Such "fighters" include ISIS terrorists from Syria who were trained at Al-Tanf military base, a US military base in Homs Governorate. Russia's Defense Ministry has also recently reported that extremists in Ukraine have been using the same war tactics as terrorists in Syria.
Read more: Al-Jaafari: The US could be sending ISIS to Ukraine
As the situation escalates, Poland seems to have become a logistical hub - a prominent one at that - for weapon storage to be shipped to Ukraine and a channel for foreign mercenaries flowing into Ukraine - however, the implications for this aren't clear.
To facilitate this ordeal, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry completely suspended visa requirements for foreign mercenaries. How the mercenaries will be used to escalate the situation on the ground will be left to time.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken prodded Polish authorities and told CNN that the US strongly supports Poland in “providing MiGs, SUs, planes that Ukrainians can fly, to the Ukrainians.” However, Poland seems to have rejected that, especially after the Russian Defense Ministry warned against it.
Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Spokesperson, said that any decision issued by "neighbors" to offer Ukraine the use of their airfields - or a No-Fly Zone - will be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict.
After this, the Polish Foreign Minister rejected the possibility and condemned it, slamming it as "fake news" spread by a tweet by Nexta, a US-funded, anti-Russia news outlet founded by a Belarusian ex-fighter for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.
“Poland won't send its fighter jets to #Ukraine,” nor will it allow neighbors to “use its airports,” according to the Ministry. “We significantly help in many other areas,” they added.
Read more: Poland won't send fighter jets to Ukraine or allow use of airports
For $60,000 a month, mercenaries from Japan, the US, Canada, and more are taking the chance to fight NATO's war. With an impending economic crisis that sanctions on Russia are building up, people are growing more and more desperate.
However, not every country has welcomed the invitation issued by the Ukrainian embassies - including the UK and Algeria. A source close to the Algerian Foreign Ministry told TSA, a local news website, that the Facebook post that sponsored an advertisement telling "foreign nationals" to "join the resistance to the Russian occupiers and protect world security" is a violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations between countries.
Although British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss authorized the opportunity, she was contradicted by the head of the armed forces Admiral Tony Radakin, who said it was "unlawful and unhelpful" for the British to fight Russia in Ukraine.
Senegal has also taken a stance against the "invitation," demanding that any request for mercenaries be "immediately withdrawn” and insisting that “any procedure for enlisting people of Senegalese or foreign nationality" cease “without delay".
