Macron warns Russia's hybrid attacks are meant to break European will — but France will not be intimidated
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
A drone with a detonator discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport, as Western intelligence agencies warn Vladimir Putin is preparing strikes designed to look accidental, paralysing NATO's Article 5…Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Bishkek, declining to say whether British defence facilities on UK soil could be targeted in any future hybrid attack on Europe.
Poland's military scrambled jets and closed airports this morning after Russia unleashed a massive overnight barrage on Ukraine involving Oniks cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and close to 160 drones. Western intelligence officials warn Putin is laying the groundwork for a "stealth mobilisation" of up to 300,000 fresh troops to feed into his stalled invasion. Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Poland's parliament that planned missile strikes on NATO allies would be disguised as "accidental" to paralyse the alliance's collective defence response. The Foreign Office rejected Moscow's warning that British facilities in Ukraine are now "legitimate targets".
Putin has reportedly suffered 1.5 million casualties, including 500,000 dead, with his invasion now widely described as having ground to a stalemate.
Reports that the US is weighing removing up to 40,000 troops from Europe have deepened alarm among NATO's eastern-flank members.
Tusk vowed Poland will not surrender 'a single inch' of territory, speaking shortly after a Russian drone hit a railway station in an attack that narrowly missed Boris Johnson.
