Polish premier warns ‘critical line has been crossed’ in sabotage targeting infrastructure

WARSAW

A “critical line has been crossed” in the ongoing wave of sabotage targeting Poland’s infrastructure, the nation’s prime minister said Friday, accusing Kremlin security services of being behind the attacks, a charge Russia denies.

“The sabotage operations, inspired and directly organized by the Kremlin’s services for many months, have recently crossed a critical line. Today, one can even speak of state terrorism. The aim of these actions has become destruction, the loss of human life, and the destabilization of the Polish state,” Donald Tusk said in a parliamentary address.

“If we treat these incidents as mere police operations, we will lose the strategic battle. This is an assault on our statehood, on our right to protect our citizens,” he added.

His statement comes amid rising anxiety after a recent explosion on the Warsaw–Lublin rail line — a key route used for logistics toward neighboring Ukraine. The explosion near Mika triggered an investigation into “acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature” by Polish prosecutors.

Russian outlets have meanwhile been promoting a narrative that “Polish partisans” are responsible, according to Polskie Radio online. Russian officials have consistently denied any involvement in the incidents.

Poland this week announced the closure of its last remaining Russian consulate in Gdansk. Moscow has warned of “painful” diplomatic retaliation.

Over the past year, Poland has raised repeated warnings of hybrid attacks attributed to Russia — including arson, cyber-intrusions, drone incursions, and sabotage of critical infrastructure. NATO and the EU have reportedly considered expanded definitions of hybrid warfare targeting transport, logistics, and infrastructure.

In October, Polish security services detained eight individuals alleged to have been preparing acts of sabotage aimed at destabilizing the state. Prosecutors say two Ukrainians, allegedly employed by Russian security services, have been identified as involved in recent rail sabotage.

In his speech to the lower house of parliament, Tusk cited the five-principle framework his government recently formulated to confront alleged hybrid aggression by Russia: the recognition of sabotage and hybrid operations as state-organized rather than isolated incidents, full coordination of national security, intelligence and defense responses across government, cooperation with NATO and EU partners, not only bilateral, and a hardening of critical infrastructure (rail, transport, energy) and heightened protection of logistics corridors.

His call was met with applause from the ruling coalition and cheers even from opposition benches.