Europe · updated 2h ago · 3 min read
Donald Tusk Warns Russia Plans Hybrid Drone And Missile Attacks On NATO Allies, Including Poland
Tusk says Russia plans hybrid drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's allies, including Poland. Intelligence assessments indicate strikes aim to weaken NATO's unity and response.
Whether attacks are framed as accidents and NATO Article 5 pressure.
6 of 8 outlets skipped it: tusk says Russia may play attacks off as accidents and target NATO resolve.
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POLITICO.eu
“Russia could launch drone or missile strikes in the coming months against countries supporting Ukraine”Read the original ↗
ABC News
“He gave no further details of the incident, nor did he present evidence of Russian involvement.”Read the original ↗
POLITICO stresses drone-and-missile strike tactics and Article 5 doubts; ABC focuses on border-crossing incidents and avoids attributing the averted threat.
Tusk warns of NATO risk
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned in the Polish Parliament in Warsaw that intelligence agencies see “a real risk that drones or other projectiles will penetrate the territory of one or more countries on the eastern flank of NATO and even cause damage,” as Russia’s attacks on Ukraine could extend to its supporters.
“a real risk that drones or other projectiles will penetrate the territory of one or more countries on the eastern flank of NATO”
Tusk said the official Russian narrative would be that it was an accident and there would be “no reason for the alliance to react,” while he tied his warning to insights from Polish, Ukrainian, American, and NATO intelligence.
DIE WELT reported that Tusk said the “critical moment in the Russian-Ukrainian war” is expected in late autumn and winter, and that in the morning Russian drones near the Ukrainian border crossing Jahodyn attacked Poland, triggering air alerts and fighter jets.
In the evening, aircraft were again in the air due to Russian drones over Ukraine, according to the Polish Armed Forces’ operational command, with Tusk saying Russia is focusing on attacks against border crossings between Ukraine and its European neighbors.
Le Parisien added that Tusk told Parliament the Russian plan includes “hybrid drone and missile attacks against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland,” and said the objective is to weaken NATO cohesion and make Article 5 seem “more theoretical than real.”
“Accident” narrative and visits
Tusk framed the threat as a deliberate effort to paralyze NATO response, telling lawmakers that “The official Moscow narrative will be that it was an accident,” despite possible “damages.”
In the same speech, he said the objective is “to weaken the overall cohesion of NATO and (...) to convince NATO countries (...) that Article 5 (which provides for mutual defense) is more theoretical than real,” according to Le Parisien.
WION reported Tusk saying the official explanation would be that there was an accident, while he urged Poland to prepare for “various scenarios” as Russia continues its war in Ukraine.
WION also quoted Tusk warning that “We know he is plotting something bad,” and said Poland increased military activity along its eastern frontier with more F-16 patrols and helicopter operations.
Al Jazeera reported that Tusk said the attacks would be intended to weaken NATO’s ability to act collectively, adding that the potential strikes would be “quote-unquote ‘accidental’ in nature” to paralyse or at least weaken resolve to invoke NATO provisions.
Border incidents and escalation fears
The Washington Post described a Sunday Russian drone strike on a train near the Ukraine-Poland border that destroyed a locomotive on a section of track where a delegation of diplomats and former top European officials—including former British prime minister Boris Johnson—had passed shortly earlier after attending an annual Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.
“it wasn’t intended to kill Boris Johnson or David Petraeus”
The Post said former CIA director David Petraeus and two other former agency officials were on a separate train that was evacuated minutes before the explosion, and quoted Glenn Corn saying, “it wasn’t intended to kill Boris Johnson or David Petraeus.”
Corn told The Post the strike was “definitely premeditated and intended to send a strong message: We don’t want you coming to Ukraine,” and warned that an errant strike on trains carrying Johnson or Petraeus risked unleashing a “snowball effect.”
DIE WELT reported that in the past week alone there were four incidents at the Polish-Ukrainian border involving attacks on border crossings between Ukraine and its European neighbors, with the aim to disrupt Ukraine’s supply and provisioning routes.
In the same broader warning, Tusk said on Thursday he announced a visit to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Le Parisien said he was due to travel on Friday to meet his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.