The move was announced by Deputy Defence Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Skurkiewicz said: “The change of the defence doctrine stems from the lessons of the war in Ukraine, which suggest that the entire territory of the country must be defended immediately.”
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, who earlier this week announced the creation of a new army division on the eastern border, said that "the principle of setting up defences along the Vistula was flawed,” according to the PAP news agency.
‘Opponent like Russia must not be allowed to take one metre of our land’
Gen. Roman Polko, former commander of Poland’s GROM special forces unit, has described Russian forces as “terrorists,” adding that “such an opponent must not be allowed to take a single metre of territory.”
Speaking in an interview with PAP, Polko said that, under Poland’s current military doctrine, "in the event of a powerful, unexpected attack, Polish forces would initially resort to manoeuver defence.”
He added: "Essentially, this means that we allow the opponent into our territory and then we encircle them, attack their rear, cut off their logistics and destroy each part of their army."
‘Barbarians and terrorists’
Polko said in the interview: “It’s the canon of the art of war, but it makes sense only when you are facing another army, not a bunch of barbarians and terrorists.”
He went on to say: “The war in Ukraine demonstrates that the opponent is fighting not only against the Ukrainian army, but also against civilians. It is bombarding schools and hospitals, raping, looting and killing people. They are not soldiers but terrorists, and such an opponent must not be allowed to take a single metre of our territory.”
Wednesday is day 322 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, tvp.info