Poland to conduct a military operation on the border with Belarus with the participation of 17 thousand soldiers

On August 1, Poland will launch a large-scale operation “Safe Podlasie” on the border with Belarus, which will involve 17 thousand military personnel, said Polish Defense Minister Vladislav Kosiniak-Kamysz, reports RMF24.The 18th Mechanized Division will lead the maneuvers. The operation will last six months. Taking into account its specifics, additional training has been organized for the servicemen with the involvement of police officers, including those who participated in the mission in Kosovo.The head of the Polish Defense Ministry and Interior Minister Tomasz Semoniak held a joint meeting on strengthening the eastern border and praised the creation of a buffer zone on this section. According to them, the number of illegal infiltration attempts has been halved. “This is a very concrete result related to the fact that we have moved illegal migrants away from the border itself,” the minister said.It became known on July 10 that Poland would increase the number of troops from 6 to 17 thousand on the border with Belarus. Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Beyda said that 8 thousand will be directly on the ground, while the rest - in reserve. "If something happens, these 9 thousand soldiers will arrive within 48 hours with all the equipment and weapons on the border to protect it. It will be such a rapid border reaction force,” he explained.At the same time, it is planned to purchase 150 armored combat vehicles to protect the border. Beido also announced measures to improve the reconnaissance of the terrain and possible threats, including this will be done with the help of satellites and early warning planes.The goal of Operation Safe Podlasie is to unify the process of border protection, as well as to create conditions for the implementation of the Eastern Shield project, a national defense program to strengthen the border with Russia and Belarus. It was launched in May 2024, estimating its implementation at $2.6 billion.“In the case of an extremely black scenario, the Eastern Shield should allow us to repel an enemy attack,” Polish Deputy National Defense Minister Cesary Tomczyk said. He emphasized that the country's eastern borders “are also the borders of the EU and NATO,” which is why the republic is negotiating with the European Investment Bank to finance part of the project.