Russia preparing hybrid attacks on NATO, Poland warns

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Russia could be preparing hybrid attacks against European countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland, using drones and missiles while portraying any strikes as accidents.

Tusk made the warning while addressing the Polish parliament, saying intelligence assessments pointed to a potential scenario in which Russian drones or other projectiles could enter the territory of one or more NATO countries on the alliance’s eastern flank.

According to the Polish leader, such incidents could be presented by Moscow as accidental in an attempt to complicate NATO’s response. He said the objective would be to weaken the alliance’s cohesion and undermine confidence in its collective-defence commitments.

“There is a real risk that drones or other types of missiles” could enter NATO territory and cause destruction, Tusk warned, adding that the official explanation could be that the incident was accidental.

The warning comes as Russia continues its war against Ukraine and tensions remain high along NATO’s eastern border. Poland has repeatedly raised concerns about drones, missiles and other security threats crossing or approaching its territory during Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Tusk said Russia was increasingly using jet-powered drones, which fly faster and higher and can be more difficult for air-defence systems to detect before reaching their targets. He also said intelligence from NATO, Ukraine and the United States had contributed to Poland’s assessment of the potential threat.

The Polish prime minister has also pointed to attacks affecting routes and border crossings used to supply Ukraine. He said several incidents had occurred near Poland’s border with Ukraine, raising concerns about possible efforts to disrupt military and humanitarian supply lines.

Tusk’s warning comes at a particularly sensitive time for NATO, whose Article 5 principle treats an armed attack against one member as a matter for the alliance as a whole. He suggested that Russia could seek to exploit uncertainty over whether a particular incident was deliberate or accidental.

Meanwhile, Poland continues to strengthen its security cooperation with Ukraine and other European partners. Tusk was also due to travel to Kyiv to discuss defence measures against evolving drone threats and possible further sanctions against Russia.

The Polish government’s latest warning does not establish that a Russian attack on NATO territory is imminent, but it highlights Warsaw’s growing concern over the possibility of hybrid incidents spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders.