Poland weary of Russia's potential nuclear threat

Marcin Ociepa told Polish state broadcaster TVP1 the government believes Russian President Vladimir Putin may reach for nuclear or chemical weapons because his countrys forces are struggling in Ukraine and that Poland must be prepared for all scenarios. Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, national security ministers and leaders of Polands armed forces met Tuesday to discuss aid for Ukraine and the course of the war, including Russias nuclear threats.

Poland's government is closely monitoring Russia's movements in neighbouring Ukraine to prepare for the Kremlin's potential use of nuclear or chemical weapons, the central European country's deputy defense minister said on Wednesday. Marcin Ociepa told Polish state broadcaster TVP1 the government believes Russian President Vladimir Putin "may reach for nuclear or chemical weapons'' because his country's forces are struggling in Ukraine and that Poland "must be prepared for all scenarios." Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, national security ministers and leaders of Poland's armed forces met Tuesday to discuss aid for Ukraine and the course of the war, including Russia's nuclear threats. The head of Poland's National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, said after the meeting that the leaders discussed the risks and consequences associated with the use of any type of nuclear weapons in light of the changing characteristics of the war as well as the approaching winter. Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine in recent days of having plans to detonate a "dirty bomb," which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. The Ukrainian government has denied the claim and said it could mean Moscow plans to launch such a device in a false flag operation that attempts to pin responsibility on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the secretary-general of Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party said Tuesday the government may need to consider building a wall along some 220 kilometers (132 miles) of the country's border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad amid concerns of an influx of migrants that Russia is allegedly massing there.

"The hybrid war on the border continues,'' said Krzysztof Sobolewski. "We must bear that in mind, because it's a splinter off from Russia's aggression on Ukraine.'' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not interfere with construction of a wall, but said walls have fallen all through history, proving the "stupidity" of such ideas.

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