Russia may use captured Ukrainian drones against Poland and Baltics, Warsaw warns

VIENNA — Russia has captured a large number of Ukrainian drones and may be planning to use them against NATO or to stage a false flag attack, Polish defense minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said, adding to earlier warnings of a potential escalation. The senior official’s statement comes after more than a month of unusual public warnings by several Eastern European countries that Russia was planning some form of a provocation or hybrid attack, with government officials citing numerous pieces of intelligence that pointed them to this conclusion. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have been among the countries raising the alarm, some citing U.S. intelligence that had been shared with them. The latest information, first shared by Poland’s defense minister on Monday, outlines a concrete threat vector for what was previously a more general warning of Russian malicious intent. The threat appears to be taken seriously by the Eastern European capitals, and the Polish government prioritized the topic for discussion in Tuesday’s security committee meeting. Following the meeting, Kosiniak-Kamysz reiterated the specific warning. In addition to drone incursions, he also said GPS jamming and various acts of sabotage may be on the table. The countries surrounding the Baltic Sea have been affected by Russian GPS interference since the early days of the war, sometimes leading to airport closures and navigation problems. Sabotage, too, has featured, including the disabling of a rail line in eastern Poland last year. Government officials also noted cyber warfare as a possible avenue for Russian actions against NATO countries. In late June, Latvian intelligence first told Fox News they had detected Russian preparations for a hybrid attack that would fall short of the threshold for open war. The attack might include “missiles, drones or other actions designed to send a signal: stop supporting Ukraine, or you will have your own problems,” Fox News Digital quoted Latvian intelligence as saying. A week later, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had been receiving warnings about a Russian test of NATO resolve and possible attack on Polish soil from allied intelligence agencies for weeks, adding in a press conference that “the coming months may truly be critical.” Polish publication Onet had previously reported from a source close to Polish president Karol Nawrocki that the U.S. had shared concrete warnings of hostile Russian actions with the government in Warsaw. Last week, Latvian and Lithuanian leaders warned specifically of “limited kinetic operations” targeting critical infrastructure. The Kremlin’s press spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed this as “scare stories” that same week. Some officials have warned that Russia may also be inclined to stage a false flag attack on its own territory to give it a pretense to escalate the war in Ukraine or expand it to include strikes on NATO countries. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski warned of such a scenario in late…