Poland warns Russia likely to intensify provocations on Ukraine's borders with European countries

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Two incidents along Ukraine's borders with Poland and Moldova this week are a preview of potential intensified Russian provocations at Ukraine's border crossing points with Europe, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

Two people died when Russian drones hit the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday night while a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point on Wednesday night was only avoided thanks to cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, Tusk said on Thursday.

He gave no further details of the incident, nor did he present evidence of Russian involvement.

Tusk said he received a briefing on Thursday from CIA Director Jim Ratcliffe, who was recently in Moscow, about the risks posed by Russia in the region in the coming months.

“Russia already decided to engage in provocative attacks on border crossing points, for example in Moldova,” he said, speaking on Thursday in Bratislava, Slovakia, during a meeting of central European countries and Ireland. “We expect similar actions regarding border crossings with Ukraine in other countries as well, including Poland.”

Tusk added that he received information from Ratcliffe indicating Poland and Europe should be prepared for “various scenarios” on the Russian-Ukrainian front and in the countries on the European Union’s eastern flank.

Ukraine shares borders with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova, as well as Russia and its ally Belarus.

In recent weeks, Moldova, a former Soviet republic and a candidate for European Union membership since 2022, has been affected by multiple incidents near its southern border crossings with Ukraine.

On Aug. 20, an explosion in a parking lot on Ukrainian territory, about 150 meters (490 feet) from Moldova’s southern Giurgiulesti border crossing, resulted in a vegetation fire that spread about 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) onto Moldovan territory. The same day, border police spotted a crater on Moldovan territory about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) from the border, where they found debris from a type of drone used by Russia in Ukraine.

A day later, Moldova’s Mirnoe border was temporarily closed after Russian strikes nearby on Ukraine. On Aug. 25, Moldova also suspended activity at its Vulcanesti border crossing after an Iranian-made Shahed drone struck the Ukrainian side. Moldova’s border police urged citizens “who hear drone noises or explosions” to remain calm and take shelter.

After the border incident on Tuesday night at the Starokozache crossing, Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu condemned Russia, and said Moscow’s “brutal war is reaching our border.”

“To deny the danger while Russian drones and missiles sow death and put Moldova in danger, and to criticize your country’s efforts to strengthen its defense system, is to choose betrayal over the safety of your own people,” she said in a post on Facebook.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a border crossing with NATO-member Romania, in the east of the country along the Danube River, was “deliberately damaged, ... as well as export infrastructure.” Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's river ports throughout the war.

Romania has also reported an almost threefold increase in drone incursions so far this year compared to the whole of 2025, and more than double the number of drones and drone debris found on its territory.

Tusk has been warning for weeks that Russia could carry out a limited military or more significant hybrid provocation against Poland or the three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in the near future.

“In the last few hours, I received a fairly detailed report directly from the CIA director regarding possible incidents in the coming months—and this is exactly what I’ve been saying and warning about for many months now,” Tusk said in Bratislava.

In late August, Ratcliffe visited Moscow and held talks with his Russian intelligence counterparts, with Polish politicians speculating that one of the topics could have been the possible Russian threat to NATO.

On Tuesday, Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland's minister overseeing intelligence services met with Ratcliffe at CIA headquarters in Virginia to discuss Poland's security and cooperation with the Americans.

On Thursday and Friday this week, an American delegation including William Cappelletti Jr. from the Department of Defense and Thomas DiNanno from the Department of State, is visiting Poland to check out several potential locations for a permanent U.S. military base there.

Poland has for years sought to host a permanent U.S. base as a strong guarantee of its security in the face of the rising Russian threat.

Poland’s high defense spending and major U.S. arms purchases have persuaded the Donald Trump administration to consider putting a permanent base in Poland even as it reorganizes and reduces its overall military presence in Europe.

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.