Poland in 'pre-war' period amid increased Russian sabotage efforts, top Polish general says
Russia has begun preparing for war with Poland as Moscow continues to escalate its cyberattacks and acts of sabotage on Polish soil, the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Wieslaw Kukula said on Nov. 17.
"(Russia) has begun the period of preparing for war. They are building an environment here intended to create conditions favourable for potential aggression on Polish territory," Kukula told Polskie Radio, Poland's public broadcast radio.
Kukula's comments came just hours before Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that a railway track between Warsaw and Lublin was blown up in an "unprecedented act of sabotage." The railway serves as a means to connect Ukraine with vital Western aid shipments.
While Poland has not formally named a suspect in the explosion, Warsaw has been raising alarm over the mounting cases of sabotage and espionage activities targeting Poland in recent years, with numerous incidents linked to Russian or Belarusian intelligence services.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha suggested the explosion could have been another Russian hybrid attack designed to "test responses."
"If anyone has been to war, they know that what we are experiencing today is not an actual war; it is, in fact, a pre‑war situation — or what we refer to as hybrid warfare," Kukula said ahead of the explosions.
Friction between NATO and Moscow has intensified since the allies rallied behind Kyiv after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The comments echo warnings by Western officials about Moscow's escalating hybrid operations across Europe, including drone incursions, sabotage, and cyberattacks.
German intelligence head Martin Jaeger told German lawmakers on Oct. 13 that Russia is ready to test European borders and escalate the current tensions into an open confrontation at any moment, as Moscow continues to violate allied airspace with drones and fighter jets.
When asked to respond to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent remarks likening the current global situation to 1939, on the eve of World War II, and 1981, the height of the Cold War, Kukula said that the remarks serve as a "very good comparison, because in reality everything today depends on our attitude — on whether we manage to deter the opponent, or, conversely, encourage them to aggression."
"To be honest, we are always in a pre‑war period; even the Cold War was such a period. It is a matter of managing this pre‑war time, building an effective deterrence policy, largely based on our defensive capabilities but also on the attitude of citizens,” the Polish general added.
In early September, Polish and allied forces shot down several Russian drones over Poland's territory, marking the first such instance since the outbreak of Moscow's full-scale invasion. The incursions prompted calls for strengthening allied defenses, while some NATO members urged downing Russian aircraft if necessary.
