Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is likely to step up attacks near Poland's border in the coming months and could deploy more dangerous weapons, as he chaired a meeting of the Government Security Centre called after recent Russian strikes near the border.
Tusk said that from that day Poland would operate in a significantly reinforced mode, because based on what is known and what can be expected, the coming weeks and months will be a period of very intense action from Russia, and he said the escalation could not be ruled out from reaching Polish territory as well.
He said he hoped Moscow would not resort to the worst-case scenario, but added that this possibility could not be excluded, and that all services needed to be ready and avoid mistakes at the moment an urgent response is required.
New drone threat
Tusk also said that during recent shelling, Russian forces had begun using equipment more dangerous than before, namely jet-powered drones. He said their range and precision were a cause for concern, adding that even Ukraine, which is well prepared to defend against drones, is not 100 percent effective against them.
Russian drones first flew deep into Polish territory in the autumn of 2025, and a Russian Kh-101 missile fell near the city of Lublin this summer. Poland is a member of NATO, and officials have described such repeated incidents near the borders of European countries as Russia testing the alliance's resolve.
Strikes near the border
On the morning of September 13, a Russian drone hit a truck about 800 metres from the Polish border, near the Yahodyn international checkpoint.
Russia also struck the locomotive of a passenger train travelling to Warsaw about 2 kilometres from the Polish border. Ukrainian Railways, known as Ukrzaliznytsia, said former CIA director David Petraeus was on board that train at the time of the attack.
Shortly before, a special train had passed through the same section of track carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's adviser Günther Sautter, and other European officials.
Call for tougher sanctions
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Europe to tighten sanctions against Russia and introduce a trade embargo.
