Irish Examiner view: War in Ukraine is escalating to a worrying level

it is worrying to contemplate who the world is relying upon to de-escalate this situation

Smoke rises from a fire at the cabinet of ministers building after a Russian strike in Kyiv on Sunday, September 7. Picture: Ukrainian Emergency Service vi/AP

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has been grinding away for so long now that newer stories, such as the savagery in Gaza, have overtaken it in the popular imagination. Developments this week may soon change any such pecking order in terms of urgency, however.

Following an incursion by Russian drones into his country’s airspace, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has stated Poland is now closer to war than at any time since the Second World War. Ukraine had warned Poland about the approaching drones, prompting the latter to scramble both war planes of its own as well as Nato aircraft, place air defences and radar on high alert, and temporarily close some airports.