Polish PM: Border guards stop flashlights near Kaliningrad
Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported that police and military units intercepted individuals with flashlights on the Russian border line just after midnight.
By Bianca Herrera ·
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Tuesday that his government stopped what looked like a planned provocation on the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. The incident occurred overnight, and Tusk said Polish guards prevented any major incident from unfolding.
Tusk provided few details about the event but confirmed that observers saw individuals holding flashlights in the border area. He stated that he received information from border guards shortly after midnight regarding disturbing movement on the Polish-Russian border. The prime minister noted that while the event appears to have been a provocation, officials could not confirm the motive with full certainty.
Polish police have coordinated special operations in the northeastern regions of Warmia-Masuria and Podlaskie. A police spokesperson told the AP that these areas are seeing increased security activity. Tusk confirmed that a specific police-led operation was underway in those two border regions as of Tuesday.
Authorities have deployed additional police and military troops to the north-eastern border. These forces include counter-terrorism units. Tusk said these reinforcements arrived after intelligence services provided more precise warnings. The reports indicated a possible incursion by armed people or acts of sabotage during the first half of November.
Tusk has warned for months that Russia might prepare a hybrid attack against a NATO member. He said he received increasingly specific intelligence from NATO, Ukrainian, and U.S. secret services, including the CIA. General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, also gave Tusk warnings about possible escalations while in Warsaw in October.
Poland serves as the largest NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank. The country borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the north and Belarus to the east. Tusk said Russia’s intensified escalation is likely to continue and may not be limited to the overnight incident near the border.
