Poland Warns Russia Plans 'Accidental' Strikes in Europe

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned parliament on Thursday that Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Ukraine—including Poland. Russia will pretend the attacks are inadvertent in order to "paralyze or at least weaken the motivation of NATO countries" to rush to the defense of the member state being attacked, Tusk said in his speech, the AP reports. "The official narration will be that it's an accident and there is no reason for NATO to think about a response," he added.

Russia is becoming more dangerous because it's increasingly using jet-powered drones, which fly higher and faster and thus are more difficult to detect by air defense before reaching their targets, Tusk said. Poland has believed such attacks possible for some time, per Euronews. Now, he said, the intelligence is "highly consistent and, unfortunately, persuasive." Intelligence has been provided by NATO, Ukraine, and the US, Tusk said. The prime minister said he planned to travel overnight to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky—an announcement that can be seen as an act of defiance against Russia after European leaders narrowly escaped a drone strike on a train near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Sunday. Officials usually keep their travel plans to Ukraine secret for security reasons.