A swarm of Russian drones flew last week into Poland in what officials there regarded as a deliberate provocation.

Belarusian authorities said Wednesday they have detained dozens of Russian private military contractors days before Belarus' presidential vote, a sign of escalating tensions between the two neighbors. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)MINSK The authoritarian leader of Belarus accused Russia of harboring dirty intentions Wednesday after his national intelligence agency detained more than 30 Russian private military contractors ahead of Belarus' presidential election. The arrest of dozens of Russians accused of planning to destabilize Belarus amid election campaigning pushes political tensions between the countries to a new high. Alexander Alesin, an independent Minsk-based military expert, said that Belarus long has provided a transit corridor for sensitive Russian operations abroad. Belarus election officials barred the presidents two main challengers from appearing on the ballot.