POLISH anti-war activists have voiced opposition to their government’s plans to send arms to Ukraine as Russia intensified its bombing of the latter’s capital Kiev.

Two people, including Vera Gyrych, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were killed during Russian air strikes on Kiev that supposedly targeted a rocket factory — but took place as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was visiting the city in a bid to promote peace talks.

Russia announced the surrender of a British volunteer fighting with the Ukrainians in Mykolaiv region, while Ukraine said it had a plan aimed at evacuating civilians holed up in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the port city otherwise under Russian control.

A group leafleting in the Polish capital Warsaw said its opposition to deeper Polish involvement in the war had received support from some Ukrainian refugees, many of whom had joined a demonstration held last week. 

“We have not been met with hostility and people are nervous about the Polish government’s drive to war,” one activist told the Morning Star. 

“Poland is playing a dangerous game and has even called for US nuclear missiles to be based here, making all of us a potential target. We need diplomacy, not further escalations.”

Military drills will start in Poland on Sunday, the military said in a statement on Thursday.  It advised Poles that armoured vehicles would be found on Polish roads.

“The arrival and passage of the columns will also be used by the participants of the exercises to practice the reception and deployment of allied forces, to co-ordinate cross-border activities, and to co-operate with host nations,” it said.

It is not clear which other countries will be involved in the exercises, although both Britain and the US have recently announced the deployment of increased troop numbers to Eastern Europe. 

Washington approved a $33 billion (£26.3bn) spending package on Thursday which it said would enable Ukraine to respond to the immediate crisis. 

Part of the budget has been allocated to “support activists, journalists and media to defend freedom of expression” and counter what it describes as Russian disinformation. 

Yet many Ukrainian media organisations have been shut down with opposition outlets deemed to be pro-Russian targeted before the invasion and imposition of martial law in February. 

The country was ranked 97th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Poland seized control of Russian gas assets today after Moscow cut off supply because Warsaw refused to pay in roubles. 

“Today Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki requested state companies PGNiG, PSG and Gaz-System to immediately supply gas to grids formally owned by Novatek, on the basis of the crisis management law,” government spokesman Piotr Muller said.