Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk raised his tone against Russia during a commemoration of the 87th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. According to the Prime Minister, intelligence reports indicate plans for hybrid attacks involving drones and missiles directed against countries that support Ukraine, including Poland. Tusk stated that intelligence shows a real risk of projectiles being launched into the territory of one or more NATO countries on the eastern flank, with potential damage, while the official narrative from Moscow would frame the incidents as accidents requiring no NATO response.
Polish Prime Minister Warns of Potential Hybrid Drone and Missile Attacks
Tusk noted that Poland is heavily affected by hybrid attacks attributed to Russia, experiencing repeated airspace violations, drone incursions, and an incident last July where a Russian missile impacted near the Ukrainian border. He also pointed to an attack last weekend involving a Russian drone that targeted a passenger train traveling between Kyiv and Warsaw, striking just two kilometers from the Polish border shortly after former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior European security officials had traveled along the same track. The Polish leader warned that Russia is already waging a hybrid war utilizing drones, acts of sabotage, and internet disinformation, emphasizing that Warsaw will not be intimidated.
Regional Security Developments and Conflict Context
In response to recent air alerts, civil airports in Lublin and Rzeszów temporarily suspended operations while the Air Force deployed fighter jets on patrol missions. Tusk stated that warnings from allies indicate the coming months may bring additional provocations, and predicted that Russia will attempt to use recurrent incidents to illustrate what it frames as NATO’s impotence in responding uniformly.
Separately, developments in the broader conflict continue to unfold according to reports from Ukraine, where Ukrainian intelligence stated that Russia plans to mobilize 300,000 men by the end of 2026 and another 300,000 in 2027. In the Kharkiv region, a separate Russian jet-powered drone strike hit a railway station in the area of Novovodolazhka, igniting a fire in two cars of a commuter train and leaving one person dead and eight others injured.