Putin is 'stealth mobilising' 300,000 troops and preparing hybrid missile strikes on NATO, Western spy chiefs warn

From the Newshound archive · first published 20 September 2026.

Western intelligence officials believe Vladimir Putin is laying the groundwork for a mass "stealth mobilisation" of up to 300,000 troops after Russia's State Duma elections, with European leaders warning the Kremlin plans to escalate hybrid attacks on NATO allies simultaneously. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament that Russia is plotting missile and drone strikes deliberately designed to appear "accidental", intended to test whether NATO members will invoke collective defence provisions. French President Emmanuel Macron has instructed officials to draw up a plan shielding critical infrastructure from potential Russian sabotage. One Western intelligence official has reportedly said: "What we are seeing is administrative preparations to make it possible to do it, if that was the decision."

Russian forces have reportedly sustained 1.5 million casualties, among them 500,000 deaths, yet Putin is reportedly believed to have chosen escalation over Trump-mediated peace talks.

Tusk warned hybrid strikes could coincide with 'political changes in certain European countries granting power', though he declined to name them.