Putin’s regime has threatened Poland with destruction within two or three days

Assistant to the Russian President Mykola Patrushev threatened the de facto destruction of Polish statehood in the event of a direct military confrontation between Poland and Russia. The statement was made on 15 September in an interview with the Russian publication *Argumenty i Fakty*. According to Patrushev, if Warsaw were to take military action against the Russian Federation, Moscow would deploy its entire arsenal of forces and resources, after which, he claims, the Polish state could «cease to exist within two or three days». However, he did not specify exactly what means he was referring to.

Patrushev threatened to deploy Russia’s «entire arsenal»

Patrushev claimed that the Polish Foreign Minister was allegedly underestimating Russia’s military capabilities. He also echoed the Kremlin’s claim that the Russian army is supposedly not utilising its full military potential in the war against Ukraine.

At the same time, the Russian official referred to statements Vladimir Putin that Moscow allegedly has no plans to go to war with European countries.

However, Patrushev’s rhetoric itself effectively constitutes a direct threat to a Member State NATO the deployment of a wide range of Russian military capabilities.

Poland has been a member of the North Atlantic Alliance since 1999. An armed attack against it may fall within the scope of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty on collective defence.

What Radosław Sikorski actually said

Patrushev’s remarks were in response to a speech by the Polish Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorsky at the Yalta Conference in Kyiv.

Sikorsky spoke of a scenario in which Russia will be the first to attack Poland or its NATO allies. In his view, the Alliance has a significant advantage over the Russian Federation in military aviation and is capable of inflicting a serious defeat on Russia fairly quickly in an open war.

The Polish minister also drew attention to Ukraine’s strikes against the Russian oil refining industry. He stated that, with NATO resources, Russia’s oil refining infrastructure could have been put out of action much more quickly.

At the same time, the Polish media specifically noted that Russian representatives had previously distorted the context of Sikorsky’s words, presenting them as if he were talking about Poland’s unilateral victory over Russia, even though the discussion was about NATO’s capabilities.

Tensions between Poland and Russia are mounting

This exchange of sharp remarks is taking place against the backdrop of new incidents near the Polish border.

On 13 September, Russian Drones attacked Ukrainian infrastructure near the pedestrian crossing Yagodin — Dorohusk. One of the drones struck the locomotive of the Kyiv–Warsaw train near the Polish border, whilst another struck targets near the border crossing.

Following this, Sikorski stated that Russia was continuing to escalate the situation, whilst the Polish government began discussing further measures in response to Russian provocations.

In recent years, Warsaw has sharply increased its defence spending and is strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. At the same time, the Polish authorities have repeatedly warned of the risk of Russian sabotage, cyber-attacks and other hybrid operations on European soil.

The Kremlin continues to threaten NATO countries

Patrushev’s threat was yet another statement by a senior Russian official regarding a possible military conflict with Western countries.

At the same time, the Kremlin continues to officially maintain that Russia allegedly has no plans to attack NATO member states. These statements are made alongside regular threats directed at Poland, the Baltic states and other European countries.

At the time of publication, the Polish government had not issued an official response specifically to Patrushev’s latest statement.