Western nations have started to slap further sanctions on Russia and its elites in an attempt to reign in the country after it invaded Ukraine on Thursday morning.
The US, European Union and the United Kingdom have introduced a raft of measures with the EU agreeing on new measures during an emergency summit in Brussels overnight. So far the West has stopped short of blocking out Russia from the international SWIFT payment system leading the Ukrainian President to rail that his country was being left alone in the crisis. Western leaders insist that they want to leave some leverage to further punish Russia if it fails to respond to the current raft of sanctions. Overnight, Russian troops continued to attack locations across Ukraine and has intensified attacks on the capital Kyiv.
Source – Polskie Radio
Poland has vowed to support fleeing and injured Ukrainians fleeing from the invasion of the country by Russia.
The Polish government has said that every Ukrainian who flees to Poland can count on a number of benefits including access to medical care, release from quarantine in the case of COVID infection and the easy transport of animals across the border where they don’t have the usually required paperwork. The Polish authorities have also prepared trains and and up to 120 hospitals to be able to evacuate and treat civilians wounded hostilities. The Polish Red Cross has also offered to supply camp beds, sleeping bags and blankets, as well as food and hygiene products, and provide anyone injured with care and shelter, a statement read.
Source – Polskie Radio
Polish President Andrzej Duda has said that Russian aggression against Ukraine is a turning point for Western nations.
In a speech he said that the international community has to react hard adding that very severe sanctions are needed that will hit all areas of the Russian economy. Duda also recalled the words of the late President Lech Kaczyński, who during the Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008 said: „Today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the day after tomorrow the Baltic states, and then maybe time for my country, for Poland”. Meanwhile, the newly appointed US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, offered assurances in a media interview that Poland was safe amid the armed conflict across its eastern border.
Source – Polskie Radio, Radio Gdańsk
Residents of Gdańsk have shown their support and solidarity for the people of Ukraine, moved by the situation in the country, as protests and demonstrations were held in Gdańsk and surrounding towns.
Tricity institutions and local government officials have also expressed support for the citizens of Ukraine. During the day and evening there were demonstrations held outside the Russian consulate in Gdańsk where a few hundred people gathered. Later in the evening, a demonstration was held at the plac Solidarności where the national anthems of Poland and Ukraine were also sung.
Source – Trojmiasto.pl
Weather
Today will be a sunny day with scattered clouds, perhaps clouding over later in the afternoon with a fresh breeze and temperatures of 5 degrees centigrade (41 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and freezing point overnight. Tomorrow will continue with sunny intervals in a moderate breeze and temperatures of 5 degrees during the day and -3 degrees overnight.
Martin Caren/MarWer
