Putin ‘plotting to invade Poland’ to ‘test how NATO will react to armed provocation’

Moscow’s objective would be to raise tensions within the alliance and pressure Western governments into suspending military support for Ukraine. The operation could reportedly be launched in months

The United States has warned Poland that Russia could be preparing an armed “provocation” on Polish territory designed to test Nato’s response, according to sources.

Potential scenarios under discussion include missile or drone strikes against Polish critical infrastructure or even a limited border incursion by Russian troops into Nato territory, reports Polish news outlet Onet. Sources close to Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s president, told Onet that Washington has delivered multiple warnings to Warsaw about the alleged plans, reports Telegraph.

According to those sources, Moscow’s objective would be to raise tensions within the alliance and pressure Western governments into suspending military support for Ukraine. The operation could reportedly be launched within months.

Polish security officials have also not dismissed the possibility of a more conventional military incident, including a limited ground incursion by Russian troops across Nato’s eastern border.

Onet’s security sources said possible provocation scenarios include drone strikes on key infrastructure, such as power stations, or simulated air attacks intended to force Poland to activate its air defence systems.

One Polish intelligence source said that in the most extreme scenario, a “hybrid attack in the border region” could occur. The same source said an armed incursion involving Russian or Belarusian soldiers was conceivable.

Such an operation could later be portrayed by Moscow as an accidental crossing into Polish territory caused by GPS failure or as an emergency mission to recover a malfunctioning helicopter.

Polish sources revealed that Russia would be relying on the assumption that Poland would come under pressure from the United States to negotiate with Moscow or Minsk rather than immediately use force against Russian or Belarusian troops.

From Moscow’s perspective, a withdrawal achieved through negotiations rather than military action would amount to a strategic success, the sources said.

Those same sources added that Russia could even demand an end to Western military assistance for Ukraine as a condition for withdrawing its forces from Polish territory.

The US “systematically informs Poland about ever-new Russian plans for a conventional attack on Nato’s eastern flank, from which Poland is by no means excluded”, said a source close to the Polish president.

A second source, described as an ambassador to one of Poland’s Nato allies, also confirmed that a provocation in one of the Baltic states and/or Poland is a serious risk. That assessment was echoed by a third source within the Polish defence ministry.

Separately, a Baltic security source told The Telegraph that similar plans were being discussed in Moscow, adding that Russia could subsequently attempt to blame Ukraine for carrying out the provocation.

According to the report, any ground operation would most likely be launched either from Kaliningrad, Russia’s heavily militarised exclave bordering Poland and home to nuclear weapons, or from neighbouring Belarus.

Sources believe these limited tactics are among the few realistic options available to Moscow, given that the bulk of Russia’s military remains committed to its war in Ukraine, leaving it without the capacity for a full-scale conflict against Nato.

Although Poland continues to be one of Ukraine’s strongest security partners, relations between Warsaw and Kyiv have become more strained in recent months amid disagreements over interpretations of Second World War history and disputes involving the two countries’ agricultural sectors. Officials fear the Kremlin could seek to exploit those divisions.

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