Video footage from a Polish street camera showing Russian soldiers advancing under fire.
At 24:00 on the 19th of July, Russian and Polish troops engaged in a skirmish at the Polish border, near the town of Dubnik. Reports of who fired first, are as of yet unknown, however information from Polish forces in the area claim it began with Russian forces firing across the Zakhidnyi Buh river, near the Shatsky National Park between Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine. The engagement was between unknown Forces of the Russian Army, and Polish borderguards, but escalated into a wider fight as elements of the Polish 18th Mechanized Division, 18th Motorized Brigade rushed from Radzyń Podlaski after receiving word of fighting at the border. Three Battalions of the 18th Motorized Brigade were the first to arrive, as the fighting expanded to the nearby towns of Włodawa & Orchówek, with fighting continuing for several hours before both sides broke contact.
Casualty numbers are currently confidential for the Polish forces, though they claimed to have defeated what they claim to be a sizable Russian force attempting to cross the Polish border. This comes at the height of recent Wargames by NATO forces, coupled with an recently increased Russian presence in Belarus, coinciding with recent offensives from said country into Northern Ukraine, likely to open another front. Neither NATO or Russian officials could be reached for comment, however that has not stopped Poland from demanding an emergency meeting of all NATO members with clear intentions to officially and unanimously trigger Article 5.
Polish Troops carrying a wounded comrade away from the fighting.
The White House has yet to comment on these events, though it is believed President Biden is already being briefed on the events of the past hours by his staff. This comes as a major blow to Biden’s campaign of deterrence through intimidation against Vladimir Putin’s illegal war on Ukraine, which is well into its 5th year. This situation is fluid, and AAN will keep all its readers informed in the coming hours as this tense situation unfolds.
AAN News, reporting.