Poland: Security forces clash with migrants on Belarus border
On the edge of a dark forest, hundreds of masked men are filmed facing off with armed Polish security forces – separated only by a flexible fence and some barbed wire.
The men in the video are migrants and they’re trying to cross the border from Belarus into Poland.
Groups like these have been attempting to make trips from Putin’s satellite state into Poland for years, but now the skirmishes are becoming “more and more intense”.
In the footage, posted on Twitter by the Polish Ministry of Defence, the men appear to be using anything they can to bring down the fences and barbed wire at the border.
A large log is seen being used as a battering ram against the metal border, while another uses pliers to cut through the barbed wire.
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Others smash against the border using sticks, metal poles, shovels and other items.
Poland, which has been summarily sending the migrants and asylum seekers back to Belarus, suspects the involvement of foul play in the border clashes.
The MoD accuses Alexander Lukashenko’s regime of delivering migrants to the border, claiming they are “inspired by Moscow”.
Yesterday, the MoD, captioned the footage: “Defending the inviolability of the border is an obligation, but also the right of every state.
“We reacted to the actions of the Lukashenko regime inspired by Moscow.
“Soldiers and service officers defending the Polish border faced and still face a real threat. We are grateful to them for this and we will continue to support them.”
And last month, Polish Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik told reporters: “We’re talking about an operation organized by the Russian and Belarusian secret services that is getting more and more intense.”
The head of the Polish border guard, Tomasz Praga, even dubbed the Belarusian security services a “criminal group that is masterminding illegal immigration”.
Experts say Belarus, and more likely Russia, could indeed be trying to swamp Poland with migrants to “destabilise” the European Union.
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Marina Miron, a researcher at King’s College London’s War Studies Department told Express.co.uk: “In the Russian doctrine there is an idea of exploiting the protest potential of the population.
“So the Russians are using Aesopian language to talk about it… ‘well NATO use protest potential to insight revolutions’. Garasimov [Russian general] said Russia should be sort of doing the same.”
Putin and his ally Lukashenko could also be trying to weaken the border to make it easier for Russian-backed intelligence agents to enter Europe, she said.
She said the large migrant groups could offer agents “deep cover” when entering the EU.
“Most agents working for agencies have been sent back to Russia so it’s been difficult [for Russia] to gather intelligence in Europe,” she said.
“So that’s why they would want this porosity in the border… Because they would be operating under deep cover under the guise of migrants. Their agents could cross the border without having an official stamp in the passport.”
However, she suggested it could be less about Russian collusion and could be “just a matter of bad policing and corruption on the border” as Belarus continues to deny its involvement in Poland’s migrant crisis.
Human rights groups warn the situation is life-threatening for the groups stuck in the so-called “red zone” after being ping-ponged between the two rival countries.
One NGO activist Anna Alboth, previously told Euronews: “You can’t really be prepared to survive here.”
More than 48 bodies have been found in the Bialowieza Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the last two years.
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