Jarosław Stróżyk, head of Poland’s counterintelligence service, has warned that Russian leader Vladimir Putin may launch an attack against certain countries as a way to test the response of NATO.
“Putin is certainly already prepared for some mini-operation against one of the Baltic countries, for example, to enter the famous Narva [in Estonia] or to land on one of the Swedish islands”, he told Polish publication Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
However, despite these plans, Stróżyk explains that the West’s actions to help Ukraine have sent a strong message which may deter Putin from targeting an attack.
“What the West is doing together to support Ukraine shows him that in the event of an attack on NATO, the Western response would be even greater”, Stróżyk said.
NATO member states are already on standby as Russia recently announced they are carrying nuclear exercises “in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions”, encompassing aviation and naval forces.
Most recently, Polish President Andrezj Duda has agreed to deploy nuclear forces on the country’s borders if needed.
“Russia is increasingly militarising Kaliningrad. Recently it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus”, he said. “If our allies decide to deploy nuclear arms on our territory as part of nuclear sharing, to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready to do so.
“I’ve already talked about it several times. I must admit that when asked about it, I declared our readiness.”
Poland has long been a strategic key point in ongoing tensions with Russia given its border with Belarus and the Kaliningrad enclave, one of the most militarised places in Russia.
Notable, Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has recently moved more forces near the Polish border, sparking concerns about a potential strike.
“From Vitebsk we’ve transferred a couple of battalions and are 1715154645 standing head to head with NATO”, Lukashenko said. “These battalions are at full operational readiness, with a readiness of three hours from leaving their place of deployment.
“Three hours and we’re there.”
