Polish border guard dies after being wounded in attack on Belarusian border

A Polish border guard who was wounded in an attack on the Belarusian border in late May died of his injuries on June 6, the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces announced.

The guard was stabbed with a makeshift spear through the border fence between Poland and Belarus on May 28. The attack was reportedly carried out by a migrant who was attempting to illegally cross the border.

The general command said the injured border guard died in a hospital in Warsaw.

Following the attack, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the country plans to create a 200-meter-wide buffer zone along its state border with Belarus.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland's relations with Russian ally Belarus have deteriorated. Warsaw has also long accused Belarus of deliberately pushing migrants into Poland in order to pressure the EU over sanctions, a charge Belarus has denied.

Tusk announced earlier in May that Poland plans to invest 10 billion zlotys ($2.55 billion) in strengthening its borders with Russia and Belarus to deter potential aggression.

The prime minister first mentioned his plans to fortify Poland's entire eastern border with Belarus due to a growing "hybrid war" and illegal migration on May 11.

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