Poland summoned Russia's Ambassador to Warsaw, Sergei Andreyev, to formally protest a Russian fighter jet interfering with a Polish Border Guard plane over the Black Sea last week. "We strongly condemn the provocative and aggressive behavior of the Russian side, which is a serious international incident," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. On May 5, a Polish border guard plane operating as part of a Frontex operation over the Black Sea narrowly avoided a collision with a Russian fighter jet. Relations between the two countries are at the lowest ebb since Russia launched the war in Ukraine in February last year. On Tuesday, Andreyev was blocked by protesters against the Russian invasion of Ukraine from laying a wreath at the Mausoleum of Soviet Soldiers Cemetery in Warsaw. He reportedly appeared near the necropolis before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, when Russians were celebrating Victory Day on the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Last year, the Russian embassy first announced that it would no longer organize the Victory Day celebrations in Warsaw "so as not to endanger its participants." However, when Andreyev showed up to lay a wreath at the mausoleum, he was doused with a red substance. Meanwhile, in another sign of deteriorating relations, Poland has also decided to change the official usage of the name of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the Polish Krolewiec. The resolution was issued by the Committee on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland operating by the Chief Surveyor of Poland. The commission said the city currently bearing the Russian name of Kaliningrad is known in Poland under the traditional name of Konigsberg and that "the current Russian name of this city is an artificial baptism unrelated to either the city or the region." Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania. It covers an area of over 15,000 square kilometers (5,792 square miles) and is home to nearly one million people. Kaliningrad, formerly known as Krolewiec or Konigsberg, is its largest city. The name Kaliningrad was given to the city in July 1946 after the end of the war and the exodus of most of the German inhabitants. Last week, the Polish Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in connection with a statement by a Kremlin official Pavel Astakhov, who 'threatened' the Polish ambassador in Russia. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, 'all threats, especially from Russia, should be taken seriously.'
Source: Anadolu Agency