The Kremlin on Wednesday criticised Poland for renaming the Russian city of Kaliningrad in official documents, the latest in a flurry of grievances between the two countries.
Poland separately summoned Moscow’s ambassador to complain about an incident over the Black Sea involving a Russian fighter jet and a Polish border patrol plane.
Reports in Polish media meanwhile claimed a military object found near the border with Ukraine last month was a Russian KH-55 missile.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Poland “throughout history has slipped from time to time into this madness of hatred towards Russians”.
He said Poland’s move to redesignate Kaliningrad as Krolewiec was a “hostile act” that “bordered on madness”.
Kaliningrad is a Russian-controlled enclave bordering Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea.
It was known by its German name Koenigsberg until it was captured by Soviet forces in 1945. Krolewiec is the Polish equivalent.
Poland said it “evoked negative emotions” to usce the name of senior Soviet figure Mikhail Kalinin, seen as complicit in the Katyn massacre of thousands of Poles during the Second World War.
It said the name change was symbolic and did not amount to disputing Kaliningrad’s status.
“We do not want Russification in Poland and that is why we have decided to change the name in our native language,” said the government’s Economic Development Minister Waldemar Buda.
Poland has been one of Russia’s most outspoken critics before and during the war in Ukraine, driven partly by its emotionally charged history of Soviet occupation.
Russia’s ambassador Sergey Andreev has been summoned to the foreign ministry twice in six days and was blocked by protesters from laying a wreath on May 9, the day Russia commemorated the Soviet victory in 1945.
His summoning on Wednesday involved an apparent near-miss three days earlier between a Russian Su-35 warplane and a Polish aircraft on patrol for EU border agency Frontex.
Poland’s border guard said the Russian jet made “aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres” and passed the Polish plane “at a dangerous distance” estimated by the crew as five metres.
Romania gave a similar account and said the Russian plane’s antics were “totally unacceptable”.
A further mysterious incident involved a “military object” found in a Polish forest last month without any trace of an explosion.
Two Polish broadcasters reported on Wednesday without naming sources that it was believed by Poland’s Air Force Institute of Technology to have been a Russian missile. There was no immediate comment from officials.
Nato had a scare last year when the explosion of a Soviet-made missile killed two people on Polish territory, raising fears of an escalation of the war.
It later emerged they were stray Ukrainian missiles. Poland said it did not blame Ukraine for firing the rockets while under attack from Russian air strikes.
Ukraine said this week it would symbolically switch from celebrating Victory Day on May 9 to holding commemorations on the May 8 date marked by western allies.
Moscow's celebrations were scaled down amid security scares behind Russian lines and losses of military equipment in Ukraine.
The specs
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
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GAC GS8 Specs
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Price: From Dh590,000
Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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