Poland Warns Russia Plans Strikes on Ukraine Allies — SkimNews
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- Donald Tusk told Poland's parliament Thursday that intelligence assessments show Russia's plans include "hybrid drone and missile strikes against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland," designed to paralyse or weaken NATO states' willingness to invoke collective-response provisions.
- Tusk said such "accidental" attacks could coincide with political shifts in Europe that empower parties invoking "peace and pacifism" — a clear reference to the rise of Alternative for Germany (AfD) and France's National Rally.
- Poland scrambled military jets on Thursday after a Russian strike hit western Ukraine near the border, prompting temporary closures of Rzeszów and Lublin airports and air-raid warnings in two eastern Polish regions.
- A petrol station near Dorohusk, not far from the Polish border, was "most likely attacked again," Tusk said, days after a Russian drone hit a Ukrainian passenger train just 2 kilometres inside the border on Sunday.
- Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced increased F-16 and helicopter activity plus reinforced air-defence and rapid-response systems, with Tusk set to visit Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday to advance the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, a European alternative to the US Patriot system.
- European governments suspect Moscow of a sabotage campaign targeting allies, especially Germany, to pressure Kyiv's backers — allegations the Kremlin has vigorously denied.
Why it matters: Poland is NATO's eastern frontier and a primary weapons corridor into Ukraine; Tusk framed potential Russian strikes as deliberately deniable "accidents" designed to erode Article 5-style collective action without triggering it. His Friday visit to Zelenskyy to push a European air-defence alternative to the US Patriot signals Poland accelerating independence from American military hardware as the threat picture darkens.
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