MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the actions of Polish law enforcement against migrants at the Belarusian border - children in particular-speaking at the Russian Foreign Ministry expanded board meeting Thursday.

"Let’s take a look at how Polish security forces behave at the border. All of you can see it, after all, you watch it on the Internet and on TV. The first thing that comes to mind is - poor children. There are small children there, but no - they douse them with water, throw tear gas grenades," Putin said.

Putin also noted that, at night, helicopters patrol the border and sirens go off.

"I remember 2014 very well, when Polish authorities, trying to stop the use [of such means] by Ukrainian law enforcement - Viktor Yanukovich was the president back then - stated that using such means against civilians must not be possible. And what do they do now?"

The migrant crisis at Belarus’ border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland escalated sharply on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border and refuse to leave the border area. Some of them attempted to break into Polish territory, breaking barbed wire barriers. EU countries accuse Minsk of intentional escalation of the crisis and urge to impose sanctions against Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko put the responsibility on the Western states, claiming that their actions make people flee the war.