Tusk says Poland thwarted a Russian 'provocation' after figures with flashlights were spotted on the Kaliningrad border overnight
Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, whose deputy Radosław Sikorski says he now keeps an emergency evacuation backpack, rice stocks and a hand pump at home.The special operations headquarters established near Poland's border with the Kaliningrad region, as Polish police chief Marek Boroń warned the months ahead are critical for all of Europe.
Poland's elite GROM special forces unit has been deployed alongside counterterrorism police, intelligence officers and border guards in a large-scale security operation running until at least November 8, covering the northeastern Warmia-Masuria and Podlaskie regions bordering Kaliningrad.
Allied intelligence had warned for weeks of possible armed incursions into Polish territory, specifically in the first half of November.
Tusk linked the timing to US midterm elections and Poland's own political crisis over its constitutional court, saying Russia was exploiting 'global uncertainty'.
A dedicated command centre has been established at national police headquarters in Warsaw to coordinate what could become a sustained border standoff.
