Monthly Incident Report: February 2023
The Russians attempted a hostile takeover of two foreign companies belonging to Poland’s largest producer of mining machinery – Famur (Grenevia). Citizens of the Russian Federation, who approached the company’s Board of Directors, demanded the signing of a contract for the sale of assets in Russia and Kazakhstan worth approximately 16 million euros for 100,000 rubles (approximately 1,000 euros).
In the event of a refusal to sell, they threatened to publicly release doctored documents suggesting that the company was violating sanctions imposed on Russia.
Following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Famur withdrew from previously signed agreements worth nearly 30 million euros for the delivery of machinery for use in Russia, and also drastically reduced sales in that market.
The Polish authorities have been informed of the incident.
In mid-February, the mission of the Polish Police humanitarian contingent in Ukraine came to a close. The objective of the team was to remove hazardous objects that posed a significant threat to the civilian population. The contingent consisted of nearly 100 personnel and two police dogs.
Over a period of nearly six months, they cleared more than 43,500 square meters of terrain and over 17,500 meters of roads. Furthermore, they discovered nearly 2,000 explosive and dangerous items (UXO/ERW) during their operations.
The situation at the Polish-Belarusian border is becoming more tense. In mid-February, for reasons of national security, the border crossing at Bobrowniki, which served both freight and passenger traffic, was closed. Currently, there are no active road border crossings with Belarus in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.
The Terespol-Brest crossing is open to passenger traffic. Additionally, the Kukuryki-Kozłowicze crossing (in the Brest Region) for freight traffic is still operational.
Over the course of almost two weeks, explosive ordnance disposal experts worked to remove unexploded devices from a forested area near Wołów in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. During their operation, the team discovered over a thousand mines, 3,500 fuses, and 32 100-kilogram aerial bombs, two of which were detonated on the spot.
