A Polish soldier deployed to the country’s border with Belarus was rushed to hospital after being injured by a group of “aggressive migrants”. The soldier suffered a hand injury whilst trying to prevent the migrants from illegally crossing into Poland, the operational command of Poland’s armed forces said.
The soldier is part of a 17,000-strong mission designed to strengthen Poland’s border with Belarus amid a migrant crisis. Poland’s operational command said the incident happened at around 8pm local time on Monday and the soldier was wounded “during the use of direct coercive measures”, without elaborating further. It said: ”At the scene, the soldier was provided with first aid. He was then promptly transported to a hospital in Białystok, where he received specialised medical care.
“The soldier's condition is stable, with no threat to his life.”
Polish military police have launched an investigation at the scene near the town of Czeremcha in eastern Poland, the statement added.
Warsaw has accused Minsk and Moscow of inviting people from the Middle East and Africa, busing them to the Poland-Belarus border and into Poland.
Poland claims Belarus — a crucial ally of Vladimir Putin’s Russia — is conducting a “hybrid war”.
The injured soldier, who has not been named, is deployed to the area as part of the ‘Safe Podlasie’ mission launched last year in response to increasing incidents at the frontier.
It saw troop numbers increase from 6,000 to up to 17,000, with 8,000 actively protecting the border and 9,000 in reserve, according to the Polish Press Agency.
In July, Polish troops at the Belarus border were attacked by migrants, prompting one soldier to open fire with rubber bullets, local reports say.
Poland built a £300 million five-and-a-half metre fence along its territory with Belarus in 2022 but has since gone under upgrades, including CCTV cameras, overground and underground sensors and an adjacent patrol road.
The fence is equipped with razor wire and at border crossings there are big concrete blocks and anti-tank defences.
