NewsTracker Answers for week of Dec. 16, 2024

Q: Poland has made firearms lessons compulsory for 13-year-old and 14-year-old students in preparation of a potential Russian attack. The students are taught to assemble weapons and shoot at targets using lasers. Where is Poland?

Circle the area on this map

Q: After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Poland increased its defense spending, began expanding its military, and started the student weapons training. Ukraine borders Poland on the ….

A. North

B. East

C. South

D. West

B. Poland borders Ukraine and the Russian ally Belarus to the east; Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south; Germany to the west, the Baltic Sea to the north; and Lithuania and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the northeast.

Q: A top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Poland last year that it was considered a "dangerous enemy" by Russia and could end up losing its statehood over its support for Ukraine. Once the largest country in Europe, Poland was invaded and dominated by Russian forces for how many years?

A. 117

B. 227

C. 337

D. 447

C. Along with Austria and Prussia, Russia began seizing pieces of Poland in 1772 and it occupied Polish territory until Poland was reestablished as a nation at the end of World War I in 1918. The Russian-dominated Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided and invaded Poland in 1939, starting World War II. After the war, Poland was a Soviet satellite state until 1989.

Q: NATO jets were scrambled in Poland last week when Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine. President-elect Donald Trump has said the United States might pull out of the NATO military alliance if other members don’t spend more on defense. Which nation spends a bigger share of its wealth on defense?

A. Poland

B. United States

A. Poland spends 4.1% of its gross domestic product on military expenditures compared with 3.4% for the United States, according to the CIA World Factbook. But, no other nation comes even close to the $915 billion the United States spent on its military last year, more than the next nine biggest spenders combined. Poland spent $31.6 billion, ranking 14th in dollars spent.

Q: Poland has taken in 957,505 Ukrainian war refugees, according to the UN. Which NATO nation took in more?

A. Britain

B. Germany

C. Hungary

D. United States

B. Germany has registered 1,190,255 Ukrainian refugees. That is a bit less than the 1,227,555 taken in by the invading Russians. It has been reported that some of those in Russia were taken by force, which is considered a war crime. Hungary took in 60,620 Ukrainians even though its president, Victor Orban, has opposed continued aid to Ukraine and expressed support for Putin.