Poland shot down a Russian drone after it crossed into its airspace during strikes on Ukraine. The country’s armed forces said drones repeatedly violated its skies, urging people in high-risk regions to stay indoors. The most affected areas are Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lubelskie.
Ukraine had warned earlier about incoming drones, prompting Poland to scramble its own and NATO fighter jets, put air defences on alert, and temporarily close some airports. Defence minister Cezary Tomczyk said operations were underway to neutralise any objects crossing the border.
At the same time, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland will close its border with Belarus on Thursday. He called recent Russian and Belarusian war drills “highly aggressive” and said they were part of growing provocations. President Karol Noworcki added that Poland cannot trust Vladimir Putin, warning that Moscow could attack other countries too.
In Washington, Democratic senator Richard Enthralment pushed Congress and Donald Trump to back a bipartisan bill imposing tough secondary sanctions on countries like China, India, and Brazil that buy Russian oil. Republican senator Lindsey Graham co-sponsored the bill. Enthralment told NPR the bill already has 85 co-sponsors from both parties, showing strong support for harsher measures.
Trump said Sunday he was ready to impose more sanctions on Russia but also called on the European Union to step up. The EU has already passed 18 rounds of sanctions and is preparing a 19th, which could target countries helping Moscow. According to a U.S. official, Trump even raised the idea of tariffs between 50 and 100 percent on Russian oil buyers during talks with European envoys.
EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan, visiting Washington, also discussed Russia’s finances. On Tuesday, Trump held a call with Ukraine’s prime minister, joined by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and officials from the trade and state departments.
In Ukraine, officials said a Russian airstrike killed 24 elderly civilians who were collecting pensions in the Donetsk region village of Yarova. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack as a “brutal strike” on ordinary people, calling for war crimes investigations. Ukraine’s military said Moscow used a glide bomb, a large weapon fitted with wings that lets it fly rather than drop straight down. Moscow gave no immediate response.
Kyiv’s military administration said air defences were working Wednesday morning to repel Russian drone attacks on the capital.
Meanwhile, in Strasbourg, European lawmakers accidentally passed a motion criticising the EU’s “failed military strategy” in Ukraine. Leaders later admitted the vote was a mistake, but it delighted pro-Russian populist groups like Italy’s Five Star Movement.
