Russia plans ”accidental” drone strikes on NATO countries, Tusk says
Tusk said the tactic could be used to test whether NATO would act if an attack on one of its members could be presented as a mistake.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned his country's parliament that Russia is planning drone and missile strikes on NATO member nations supporting Ukraine, including Poland, according to a report on September 17. Tusk suggested Russia might attempt to make such attacks appear accidental to weaken NATO's resolve. The prime minister cited intelligence from NATO, the United States, and Ukraine in his assessment, indicating that late autumn and winter are the most dangerous periods of the ongoing conflict.
Tusk also warned of the possibility of drones or missiles entering the territory of one or several NATO countries on the eastern flank, potentially to demonstrate that Article 5 exists only in theory and to weaken NATO's willingness to respond. The warning comes after a series of drone incidents near NATO territory, including a September 13 attack on a passenger train near the Ukraine-Poland border and a September 15 downing of a drone in Lithuanian airspace by Italian NATO jets.
Poland also recovered a Gerbera-type drone with a live warhead from the Baltic coast near Rusinowo on September 1, and Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4-5. Tusk visited Ukraine on September 18 for the inaugural Carpathian Eight summit, where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced the formation of an anti-ballistic coalition with Europe, and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski announced preparations for the largest military aid package for Ukraine, which could include Patriot missiles. Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed Tusk's accusations as "contrived" and "far-fetched."
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
