Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy tells allies ‘stop looking for excuses’ on sanctions as Russian drone flies over Romania
Ukrainian president accuses Moscow of expanding the war and warns allies not to wait for ‘Shaheds and ballistic missiles’ before taking action. What we know on day 1,299
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of an “obvious expansion of the war” and called on allies to issue sanctions after a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace and hovered near the Ukrainian-Polish border on Saturday. Romania’s defence ministry said on Saturday its airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine. Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets late on Saturday to monitor the situation after the strikes, the ministry said in statement.
Polish authorities said its aircraft and those of Nato allies were deployed in a “preventive” operation in Poland’s airspace because of drone strikes in neighbouring areas of Ukraine. The airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed and the alert lasted around two hours. Russian drones also entered Polish airspace on Wednesday, which Poland shot down. US secretary of state Marco Rubio called the Russian incursion into Poland “an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development” but questioned whether Poland had been deliberately targeted.
“Do not wait for dozens of ‘shaheds’ and ballistic missiles before finally making decisions,” the Ukrainian president warned on social media on Saturday, referring to the Iranian-designed Shahed drones Russia is using.
He called on Europe, US, G7 and G20 to “stop looking for excuses not to impose sanctions” and called on the world to reduce consumption of Russian oil.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, on Saturday accused Hungary of blackmailing the European Union by obstructing Ukraine’s bid to join Nato. Ukraine has struggled to advance accession talks due to vetoes imposed by Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly leader Viktor Orbán. “You can blackmail all of the EU with your bilateral issues, but there are limits,” Sikorski said at a conference in Kyiv. “In our view Hungary has gone beyond what is reasonable.”
Ukraine’s defence minister, Denys Shmygal, said Saturday that his country needed at least $120bn next year to fight Russia, and would need a similar amount to maintain its military even if the war ended. He suggested confiscating Russian assets frozen in the west to pay for the defence spending, saying Ukrainians were already shouldering a significant tax burden after three-and-a-half years of war.
An explosive device detonated on a section of railway in Russia’s western Oryol region on Saturday, killing two members of Russian national guard and wounding another person, the region’s governor said. Russia blames attacks on its railway network on Ukrainian sabotage. Kyiv does not typically claim responsibility but often cheers such attacks on, arguing Russia uses its train network to deliver troops and fuel to its forces fighting in Ukraine.