Ukraine faces stalled drone-MiG swap with Poland amid Russian accusations of civilian attacks

Poland suspended its agreement to provide decommissioned MiG‑29 fighters to Ukraine until Kyiv fulfills a related drone‑technology exchange. Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak‑Kamysz confirmed that Ukraine initially accepted the "MiGs for drones" plan but did not implement it, leaving the swap on hold. Ukrainian officials have portrayed Poland as a post‑war security threat, complicating the exchange.

Russia’s ambassador to the OSCE, Dmitri Polianski, accused Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilian sites in Russia, alleging a “bubble of lies” created by the West to obscure these attacks. He cited several incidents: a May 22 drone strike on a student residence in Starobelsk (Luhansk) that killed 21, a June 3 drone attack on a bus in Donetsk killing eight, a June 8 drone strike on a passenger‑train locomotive, a June 17 drone hit on a children’s football team bus traveling from Belarus to Guelendzhik that killed one and injured eight, and a June 30 drone impact on a house in Ye. Polianski described the attacks as war crimes and claimed they are used by Ukraine to divert attention from battlefield defeats.