Kyiv said it was tightening security amid Russian missile strikes and the threat of attack by enemy sabotage groups, as the Kremlin denied that it might invade Nato states but pledged to shoot down any fighter planes that they supplied to Ukraine.
Relations between Warsaw and Moscow continued to deteriorate on Thursday, as Poland said its security services had searched properties over suspected Russia spy activity, a day after the Czech Republic sanctioned two people and a news website allegedly involved in spreading Kremlin propaganda and undermining EU security.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said its defence council had met to discuss recent Russian missile strikes on the city “using weapons with the shortest flight time” and “the threat of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups trying to penetrate the territory of the city”.
He said Kyiv would review security measures around everything from the operation of public transport to the staging of sporting and cultural events, and law enforcement agencies and officials must increase vigilance over public safety, the accessibility of bomb shelters and the spread of disinformation on social media.
“I ask Kyivans to keep calm. Do not panic. We are taking preventative measures so that Kyiv and its residents are reliably defended,” Mr Popko added.
Seven people were injured in Kyiv earlier this week by debris falling from what Ukraine said were two of Russia’s most advanced Zircon missiles, which were intercepted over the city with barely any warning from its air-raid sirens. Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, has endured long blackouts in recent days after a massive missile strike on its power grid.
Two years after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – having insisted he had no such plan – Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country had “no aggressive intentions” towards Nato states.
“The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared – is complete nonsense. It’s just drivel,” he added, before warning that US-made F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine is set to receive this year from allies would be shot down.
“If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Mr Putin told a gathering of Russian military pilots.
“And we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment… Of course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located.”
Poland’s AWB domestic security agency said it had conducted searches and questioned unnamed people over suspected “actions aimed at organising pro-Russian initiatives and media campaigns in EU countries … to achieve the Kremlin’s foreign policy goals, including weakening Poland’s position on the international stage and discrediting Ukraine and the image of European Union institutions.”
The AWB said it acted in co-operation with European partners, particularly those in the Czech Republic. Prague sanctioned two people on Wednesday, including pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk and a news website he supposedly funded, for allegedly running a pro-Kremlin influence operation ahead of this year’s European Parliament elections.
“It turns out that the Russian Federation has been trying to influence democratic processes in Europe for a long time, and we must do everything to prevent this,” said Czech prime minister Petr Fiala.
