75 years ago today, the Soviet Red Army paraded down Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw to celebrate the end of the German occupation of the city.

From the 14-17 of January 1945, Soviet troops – including Belarusian and Polish divisions under Red Army command – launched coordinated attacks on the remaining German forces in Warsaw, ultimately defeating the Germans on January 17th.

For Poles, however, the victory was bittersweet.

By the time the Red Army arrived, the Germans had spent months systematically razing Warsaw to the ground, and almost all of the city’s population had fled or been sent into concentration camps, forced labour, or exile.

As one Polish soldier, Michał Barcz, described it, “Warsaw was a macabre sight. A completely extinct, demolished city, covered with snow.” Another soldier recalled the shock of Polish troops on seeing “corpses with white and red armbands; we knew they were Home Army soldiers.”

According to historian Andrzej Krzystof Kunerk it was “a liberation of a sea of ruins, devoid of inhabitants. I would call it the occupation of an extinct place, a few hours earlier abandoned by German units.”

Though it marked the end of German occupation, the liberation of Warsaw set the stage for nearly 45 years of Soviet dominance and Communist rule in Poland.

Source: The First News

US company to invest in renewable energy in Poland

In a press release on Friday, Poland’s state-owned Industrial Development Agency (ARP) announced they had signed a letter of intent with the US energy giant General Electric regarding investments in renewable energy.

The partnership aims at boosting Poland’s capacity for energy generation from renewable sources with a specific focus on offshore wind farms and photovoltaic projects.

According to ARP CEO Cezariusz Lesisz, “Offshore is a strategic sector for the Polish economy, not only in the context of the European Green Deal… but also in view of the domestic manufacturing potential.”

ARP estimates investments in offshore energy are at 100 billion PLN or 23.4 billion EUR.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio 

CD Projekt Red postpones newest game release

To the disappointment of fans worldwide, the next highly anticipated release from Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red has been pushed back to next September.

The open-world RPG “Cyberpunk 2077” was originally set to be released on April 16th, but a recent announcement from the studio claimed the game, while playable, is still in need of further testing, debugging, and polishing.

While the announcement was met with disappointment, fans have rallied behind the company. Commenting on Facebook, Christin Wehle of Germany advised the studio to “ …take all the time in the world, you showed us already that Quality matters more than anything to you and that’s what’s making CD Projekt Red so great.”

CD Projekt became one of the most well-known and profitable video game studios in the world due to its wildly successful “Witcher” video game franchise based on the works of Andrzej Sapkowski. The company’s current market value is estimated at 27 billion PLN, or more than 6 billion EUR.

Source: The First News

Hit-and-run driver continues to elude police

Police in Gdańsk are searching for the driver of a Porsche with German plates which crashed into a bus stop at ul. Myśliwska around 21:00 on Saturday.

According to police and eyewitness reports, the driver was speeding and lost control of the vehicle, ramming into the „Jasieńska” bus stop and injuring at least one person who was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

Both the driver and his passenger then abandoned the car and fled the scene before police arrived. Police are currently searching the surrounding area using dogs, checking footage from surveillance cameras, and talking to eyewitnesses.

Anyone with relevant information should contact the City of Gdańk police department. For the latest updates on the situation, check back at: https://radiogdansk.pl/wiadomosci/item/104882-auto-staranowalo-przystanek-w-gdansku-ranna-mloda-kobieta-policja-szuka-sprawcy

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Weather

Today will be partly cloudy with a slight chance for some glimpses of sun across areas of Trójmiasto later this afternoon. Temperatures will peak today around 5 degrees Celsius, or 41 degrees Fahrenheit, with a light breeze from the southwest, humidity around 92%, and a low chance of rain. Similar cool and partly cloudy weather is forecast for tomorrow, with winds set to pick up Monday evening.

RGEN/EP