Poland says it foiled overnight provocation attempt at Kaliningrad border

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that Polish guards stopped an apparent attempted provocation overnight on the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. Just after midnight, border guards reported “disturbing movement” on the Polish-Russian border, Tusk said. He gave few details but said “individuals with flashlights” were seen in the area. The guards prevented any incident from happening.

Poland is NATO’s largest member on the alliance’s eastern flank. It borders Kaliningrad to the north and Belarus, Moscow’s close ally, to the east. Polish police, military, border guards and intelligence services have recently been stepping up security along the borders with Russia and Belarus. A police spokesperson told the AP that preventive measures were being carried out in the northeastern regions of Warmia-Masuria and Podlaskie. On Tuesday, Tusk confirmed a special police-coordinated operation was happening in both border regions.

Additional police and other troops, including counter-terrorism units, were recently sent to Poland’s northeast after authorities received “more precise” information that acts of sabotage could occur in the first half of November. That included a potential incursion into Poland by “armed people,” Tusk said. He said Polish and allied services had warned for some time that acts of diversion, more serious provocations on the border with Russia, or even sabotage orchestrated by hostile services could occur.

Tusk said he received further warnings about possible escalations from Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, in Warsaw in October. For months, Tusk has warned that Russia might be preparing a more serious hybrid attack against a NATO country. His warnings have become increasingly specific as he received intelligence from NATO, Ukrainian and U.S. secret services, including the CIA, he said.

Tusk said it was not possible to confirm with full certainty that the overnight incident was an attempted provocation. He said Russia’s intensified escalation would continue and was unlikely to be limited to this incident.