The West no longer dismisses its warnings about Russia
-16s from America. The Americans, who initially pushed the plan, balked when Poland asked to send the jets via an American airbase in Germany. On March 9th they backed out, saying transferring the jets risked escalation. Poland wants to do as much as possible, say officials in Warsaw, without being dragged into the war.
Poland was already home to Europe’s largest Ukrainian diaspora, over a million strong, and so is an important recruiting ground for Ukraine’s resistance. In the first ten days of the war, Polish border guards recorded 217,000 crossings into Ukraine. A large share were Ukrainians heading back home to fight. “Our people are waiting,” says Aleksandr, who arrived at the border by bus from Estonia. “They’re going to tell us what to do, give us ammunition and guns, and then we’re off to work.