Officials marked the Day of the Ukrainian Air Force yesterday by congratulating the Ukrainian military on successfully destroying “more than 3.5 thousand enemy air targets.”

According to General Mykola Oleszczuk, Ukrainians have destroyed “more than 3.5 thousand enemy air targets, including 350 planes and helicopters, 1,200 cruise missiles, 24 ballistic missiles, more than 2,000 drones, and 13 Kinzhal missiles” since the beginning of the full-scale invasion last year.

In a speech on Sunday, Oleszczuk praised the Ukrainian Air Force, reminding the audience that during the first hours of the invasion, Ukraine had “promised not to give the enemy control over our skies, and we kept our word.”
Over the night of Saturday to Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force command reported shooting down 30 missiles and 27 drones out of some 70 objects launched by Russia. During the attacks, a Russian “guided air bomb” hit a blood transfusion center in the town of Kupiansk in the eastern Kharkiv region, killing at least two people and wounding four others.

Today is day 530 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Source: PAP, Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Poland’s First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, was in Lisbon over the weekend to take part in the Roman Catholic Church’s World Youth Day event.

During her three-day visit, Kornhauser-Duda met with Polish pilgrims who had traveled to Lisbon for the event, one of the largest international religious gatherings in the world.

She also met with pilgrims from Ukraine, who told her they were praying for peace in their country and hoping the war started by Russia would end soon.

On Sunday, the Polish First Lady attended an outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, joining Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and an estimated 1.5 million attendees.

During his sermon, Pope Francis told the crowd he continues to “feel great sorrow for beloved Ukraine, which continues to suffer greatly.” He went on to urge attendees to “continue to pray for peace” as they returned home.

The next World Youth Day event is scheduled to be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027.

Source: Polskie Radio, Reuters

Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski has confirmed he is working on a new book in his extremely popular and world-famous “Witcher” fantasy series.

Sapkowski’s original six-volume series from the 1990s has been translated into 37 languages, placing his popularity on par with that of Polish science fiction legend Stanisław Lem.

New readers have been introduced to Sapkowski through various media iterations of his work over the past decade, notably the extremely popular “Witcher” video game series produced by Polish gaming company CD Projekt Red, which sold over 75 million copies worldwide.
The most recent book in The Witcher saga, the prequel “Season of Storms,” was released ten years ago. Since that time, Sapkowski has insisted that The Witcher saga was complete and refused to add anything more.

In an online meeting with Ukrainian fans last week, however, Sapkowski announced that while he “was reluctant to talk about the things he was doing until he was done,” he made an exception for the Ukrainians, confirming that he was “working on a new Witcher book quite diligently” promising “it will be ready” in another year.

Source: Polskie Radio, PC Gamer

Bees from an apiary on the roof of the City Hall in Gdynia just finished a busy season in which they produced 211 kilograms of honey, almost 30 kilograms more than the previous year.

According to Wojciech Albecki, an experienced beekeeper and vice-president of the District Board of the Beekeepers’ Association in Gdynia, this year was “exceptionally successful,” potentially due to the addition of numerous new queens to the hives.

The apiary on the roof of the Gydnia City Hall has been in existence for nearly five years and is run by the local government of Gdynia in cooperation with OPEC. The four hives in the apiary are home to four colonies of “Buckfast” bees.

At the peak of the season, the hives host from 50,000 to 100,000 bees, who spend their time pollinating nearby plants, producing honey, and delivering pollen to the hives.

Last week’s harvest was the last of this year’s three honey harvests, with great expectations for next year.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy, with a chance for rain in the early afternoon, accompanied by strong winds from the southwest. Temperatures will remain on the cool side, with a daytime high of 16°C or 61°F, dropping to a low of 12°C or 54°F overnight. Slightly warmer temperatures are expected tomorrow, with a good chance of rain showers in the early morning.

Elizabeth Peck/jk