Poland warns Russia is planning drone or rocket strikes on NATO territory

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Thursday that Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Ukraine, among them Poland.

Russia will pretend the attacks are “accidental” in order to “paralyze or at least weaken the motivation of NATO countries” to rush to the defense of the member state coming under attack, Tusk said in a speech to the Polish parliament.

“There is a real risk that drones or other types of projectiles will enter the territory of one or several countries on the eastern flank and even cause destruction,” Tusk warned.

“The official narration will be that it’s an accident and there is no reason for NATO to think about a response,” he added.

He said Russia was more dangerous because it was increasingly using jet-powered drones, which fly higher and faster and thus are more difficult to detect by air defense before reaching their targets.

Tusk has been for months warning that Russia might be preparing a more serious hybrid attack against a NATO country. His warnings have gotten increasingly specific as he received intelligence from NATO, Ukrainian and U.S. secret services, including the CIA, he said.

In recent days, Tusk has said Russia was now focusing on attacking border crossings between Ukraine and its European neighbors in order to disrupt delivery lines to Ukraine. Four such incidents happened on Poland’s border with Ukraine in the past week and several others took place in the last weeks on Ukraine’s border with Moldova.

Tusk said at the moment Russia was not ready for any peace talks “without the total capitulation of Ukraine.”

“They are convinced the winter will be tragically critical for Ukraine,” Tusk said. He said last winter Poland stepped in with deliveries when Ukraine’s energy infrastructure came under attack, but if border crossings are destroyed, it will be much harder for Warsaw to offer such help this upcoming winter.

“Russia’s goal is to destroy as much as possible the economy and logistics of Ukraine,” Tusk said, adding that intelligence indicates continuous attacks of “very high frequency and intensity” on six main Ukrainian cities should be expected in the near future.

Tusk announced on Thursday he would travel to Ukraine overnight to Friday, in what can be seen as an act of defiance against Russia after European leaders narrowly escaped a drone strike on a train near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Sunday. Officials usually keep their travel plans to Ukraine secret for security reasons.

In Kyiv, he said he would discuss with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy how to defend against the new types of drones as well as discuss with partners including Slovakia about further sanctions against Russia.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that “major progress is being made toward establishing a U.S. Army base in Poland” after a U.S. delegation was in Poland last week to visit several possible locations.

“If this happens, the location will be announced very soon,” Trump wrote. “This will be a historic step for our Great U.S./Polish Alliance.”

Poland has for years sought to host a permanent U.S. base as a strong guarantee of its security in the face of the rising Russian threat.

Poland’s high defense spending and major U.S. arms purchases have persuaded the Trump administration to consider putting a permanent base in Poland even as it reorganizes and reduces its overall military presence in Europe.

In May, the U.S. unexpectedly withdrew troops from the total of around 10,000 stationed in Poland, causing confusion among European allies and nervousness in Warsaw. But officials in both Poland and the U.S. soon said the withdrawal was temporary and Poland was not expected to suffer from the U.S. troop reorganization.