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Russia has deployed nuclear capable bombers to patrol the skies over the Belarusian border with Poland amid the tensions there between the European Union and Belarus, a close Russian ally. The European Union has been furious with apparent Belarusian encouragement for the mass of migrants attempting to force their way into Poland illegally. The bloc is preparing to impose new sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Illegal migrants used as a weapon
Russia claimed that the flight of strategic bombers it deployed over Belarus were there to perform combat alertness and air defense tasks for both Russia and Belarus.
According to the European Union these are not the only weapons being deployed on the Belarusian border in response to recent sanctions.
The EU has accused Putin and Lukashenko of weaponizing the hordes of migrants which have been attempting to forcefully break through Polish border defenses.
Border guards have at times struggled to contain the mobs, which have used shovels and logs to destroy wire fences on the borders with Poland and Lithuania.
Poland reported that its border guards had recorded nearly 600 illegal crossings on October 9 and Lithuania reported nearly 300. The migrants have been building in numbers for months now.
Lukashenko has made threats before about possibly unleashing large numbers of migrants to cross the border illegally in response to what he sees as provocations from the West.
Russia shows support for Belarus
The Kremlin was deeply annoyed by the fact that Poland extended blame for the situation to Vladimir Putin, describing this as an “irresponsible and unacceptable statement.”
Russia and Belarus are closely aligned militarily and politically; the deployment of strategic bombers to the contentious border region must be a show of support from Moscow to Minsk.
Polish border police explicitly accused Belarusian forces of coercing migrants to attempt crossings by firing shots in the air and threatening violence.
Neither Poland nor Belarus have any strong desire to take in more migrants, particularly migrants which are currently being employed as a political prop.
Lukashenko believes that the threat of continues mobs attempting to forcefully cross the border will force the EU to back down on sanctions once they see that only he can control the migrants.
Russia is apparently willing to cooperate with him on this, making the situation significantly more difficult for European countries which do not wish to antagonize Moscow directly.
