Operation Horizon activated. As many as 10 thousand soldiers will spring into action. “These are not times of peace”
We activate operation “Horizon”; its goal is to take action for security, protection of critical infrastructure and cooperation of all state services in order to counteract acts of sabotage and increase the level of security of citizens – said the Deputy Prime Minister, head of the Ministry of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
During a joint press conference with the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Marcin Kierwiński, Kosiniak-Kamysz presented the assumptions of Operation Horizon.
He said that the aim of the operation is to take actions for security, protection of critical infrastructure, joint patrolling and cooperation of all state services in order to counteract acts of sabotage and increase the level of security of Polish citizens.
– This is one of the largest operations. Together with Minister Kierwiński, we apply to the Prime Minister, and then the Prime Minister's request will be presented to the President of the Republic of Poland – said the head of the Ministry of National Defense.
He emphasized that up to 10,000 soldiers would be dedicated to this operation.
He added that the situation requires such commitment. – In the capitals of European countries you can often meet soldiers on the streets. You can observe the non-military activities of the army. Poland is ready for this. We have the third largest army, he said.
Kierwiński: We will demand explanations from the Ukrainian side
The head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Marcin Kierwiński, was asked during the conference how it happened that a person convicted in absentia in Ukraine got into Polish territory and committed an act of sabotage.
– We will demand explanations from the Ukrainian side as to why a person who was found guilty by a court in Lviv was not issued with generally accepted markers that allow marking such people in international systems when it comes to border traffic, for example an Interpol note – said the Minister of Interior and Administration.
He emphasized that this person was not marked in any Border Guard system. – The speculations of some important government officials that the face of this person was known and should have been recognized by cameras are simply unsupported by any facts – he explained.
Kierwiński: In the era of hybrid threats, we must combine the efforts of all state services
– Today, many experts say that we are in times that cannot be called times of war, but neither can they be called times of peace. In the era of these threats, hybrid threats, in the era of what effects our enemy wants to achieve on the social fabric, we must combine the efforts of all state services – emphasized Kierwiński.
He assured that police officers, soldiers, the Railway Protection Guard and all state institutions will cooperate together. – They will jointly create organizational groups, if I may say so, in the good sense of the word, which is to ensure safety – he added.
– Poland is prepared. Poland is ready. Poland will use all the resources it has – in all ministries, in all state agencies, to defend the security of its citizens – he emphasized.
Gen. Kukuła: The application for reporting incidents will be made available in mid-December
At the turn of November and December, it is planned to launch a test version of the application for reporting incidents and make it available to a group of users for verification, said the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Wiesław Kukuła. It is expected to be fully available in mid-December.
Gen. Wiesław Kukuła said that this application will work to support society and institutions responsible for managing critical infrastructure.
He explained that this application is intended to solve problems, including: indicating the exact place of the incident, it will be possible to send geolocation data and take a photo.
Gen. Kukuła on Operation Horizon: We intend to start operations on November 21
Gen. Wiesław Kukuła emphasized that the operation will be carried out by separate forces and resources of the Polish Army, from all types of armed forces and from the cyberspace component command.
– The operation will be commanded by the operational commander of the armed forces, General Maciej Klisz, proven in this type of activities and operations – said General Kukuła.
He noted that the main mission will be, among others: supporting forces subordinate to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration in ensuring the security of critical infrastructure, including communication lines, and preventing acts of sabotage and sabotage.
– One of our goals will be to activate citizens to observe their immediate surroundings more carefully than usual and report situations that may have signs of sabotage or sabotage to the appropriate authorities – said General Kukuła.
He added that the actions will be achieved through a number of activities that will be linked into three vectors of effort. – The first one will be risk management, where a special role will be played by selecting potential facilities and sections most exposed to this type of risk – said General Kukuła.
He said that the second line of effort would be prevention. He explained that this included, among others: o supervising facilities and communication lines from the air, or patrolling the area.
The public and institutions responsible for managing critical infrastructure are also to be supported through an application developed and made available to the public enabling the reporting of various types of suspicious situations.
– We intend to start our activities on November 21 – said General Kukuła.
Prime Minister: Poland and Ukraine will cooperate to counteract acts of sabotage
Poland and Ukraine will cooperate closely to effectively counteract threats such as those that have been revealed in recent days on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Wednesday. He talked about it by phone with the president of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky declared that a special Polish-Ukrainian group would be established for this purpose.
During the opening of the 1st National Congress “Science for Business”, Prime Minister Tusk announced that he had just had a conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
As he said, the conversation with the Ukrainian leader concerned primarily the acts of sabotage that had occurred in Poland in recent days. – The common task of Poland and Ukraine is to prevent, eliminate and identify threats resulting from this modus operandi for which Russia is famous, not only in Poland – added the Prime Minister.
Tusk said that “Poland expects the immediate transfer of all data that will help us identify threats resulting from this cooperation of Russian special services with some Ukrainian citizens.”
He added that the president of Ukraine told him that “not a week goes by without them identifying the fact of sabotage on Ukrainian territory.” Tusk emphasized that the principal behind these actions is known. – Those who do this are enemies of the Polish state and the Ukrainian state – he said.
– We will – in accordance with President Zelensky's commitment – cooperate very closely with our railway services, of course the special services, and we will receive information about all those suspected of possible cooperation with Russian services, so as to effectively counteract threats such as those that have been revealed in recent days on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line – assured the head of government.
Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the conversation with Donald Tusk on social media. He wrote that the head of the Polish government provided him with information about the latest acts of sabotage on the Polish railway. “Our information is consistent: all facts point to a Russian trace. No one except the Russians is interested in this,” the Ukrainian president emphasized.
Zelensky declared that “Ukraine is ready to cooperate with Poland at various levels and share all information.” “We agreed to create a Ukrainian-Polish group that will work to prevent similar situations from Russia in the future,” he added.
The President of Ukraine announced that during the conversation, the Polish Prime Minister expressed condolences for those killed in Ternopil and dozens injured in other regions of Ukraine as a result of Russian drone and missile attacks. “Thank you for your solidarity, Donald. Urgent repair work is currently underway,” Zelensky wrote.
On November 15-17, two acts of sabotage took place on the Warsaw-Dorohusk route. In the town of Mika (Masovian Voivodeship, Garwoliński County), an explosion of an explosive device destroyed a railway track. In another place, near the Gołąb railway station (Lubelskie Voivodeship, Puławy County), a train with 475 passengers had to suddenly brake due to a damaged railway line. Prime Minister Tusk said that it was possible to identify the people responsible for the act of sabotage – two Ukrainian citizens who have been cooperating with the Russian services for a long time. Polish services are on the trail of the principals and perpetrators of acts of sabotage on the railways. Several people have already been detained and interrogations are underway – said Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the Minister Coordinator of Special Services. (PAP)
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