Russia warns Poland, claims Warsaw could ‘cease to exist’ in days

Russia has issued a stark warning to Poland, with senior Russian official Nikolai Patrushev claiming that Warsaw could “cease to exist” within days if Poland entered into a direct military conflict with Russia.

Russia has issued a stark warning to Poland, with senior Russian official Nikolai Patrushev claiming that Warsaw could “cease to exist” within days if Poland entered into a direct military conflict with Russia.

The remarks were attributed to Patrushev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former secretary of Russia’s Security Council, and were reported by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.

The warning comes amid an escalating war of words between Moscow and Warsaw, following comments by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski that NATO could defeat Russia quickly if Moscow attacked the alliance.

“If Poland enters into military action against Russia, our country will use the entire arsenal of forces and means at its disposal, and Warsaw will cease to exist within two or three days,” Patrushev said, according to TASS.

Sikorski made his remarks during the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv on September 12–13. He said that NATO would be able to respond decisively if Russia launched an attack against the alliance.

“If Russia attacked us and we took our gloves off, I think we would defeat Russia quite quickly,” Sikorski said.

Russia has been at war with Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Despite significant losses in personnel and military equipment, Russian forces have continued fighting and have not achieved their initial objective of taking control of Kyiv.

Poland has emerged as one of Ukraine’s key political and military supporters during the war. Its geographic position also makes it strategically important, as Poland borders Ukraine and Belarus and lies close to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

The exchange of statements highlights growing tensions between Russia and Poland, a NATO member that has strongly supported Ukraine and advocated for a robust alliance response to Russian aggression.