Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said two incidents involving Ukraine’s border areas this week indicate Russia may step up provocative actions at crossing points with Europe.
Speaking in Bratislava, Slovakia, during a meeting of central European leaders and Ireland, Tusk said the first incident occurred on Tuesday night at the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, where he said Russian drones killed two people. He added that a separate threat to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point on Wednesday night was averted through cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, though he gave no further specifics.
He also said he had not presented evidence linking Russia to the Wednesday incident, and did not provide additional details about either case.
CIA Briefing Raises Fears for Coming Months
Tusk said he received a briefing on Thursday from CIA director Jim Ratcliffe, who had recently visited Moscow, about risks posed by Russia across the region in the months ahead.
According to Tusk, the pattern already includes provocative attacks at border points in Moldova. He said he expects similar actions involving crossings with Ukraine in other countries, including Poland, and that Poland and other European states should prepare for different scenarios on the eastern edge of the European Union.
Ukraine shares borders with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, as well as Russia and Belarus.
Moldova’s Border Incidents Follow Drone And Strike Reports
Tusk’s warning comes as Moldova has faced repeated incidents near its southern border crossings with Ukraine in recent weeks.
On 20 August, an explosion in a parking lot on Ukrainian territory, about 150 metres from Moldova’s southern Giurgiulesti crossing, sparked a vegetation fire that spread to Moldovan land. The same day, Moldova’s border police reported finding a crater on Moldovan territory around one kilometre from the border, where they said debris from a drone type used by Russia in Ukraine was recovered.
The following day, Moldova temporarily closed its Mirnoe border after strikes hit areas in Ukraine near the crossing. On 25 August, Moldova suspended activities at its Vulcanesti border crossing after what it described as an Iranian-made Shahed drone struck the Ukrainian side. Moldova’s border police later urged citizens to remain calm and shelter if they heard drone noises or explosions.
After the Tuesday night incident at Starokozache, Moldova’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, condemned Russia, saying Moscow’s war was reaching Moldova’s border and that drones and missiles were bringing danger closer to the country.
Romania Reports Rising Drone Incursions, Zelenskyy Cites Damage
Tusk also referred to wider effects across the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said a border crossing with NATO-member Romania, in eastern Ukraine along the Danube River, had been deliberately damaged, along with export infrastructure. The report drew on Ukraine’s account that Moscow has repeatedly targeted river ports throughout the war.
Romania has said it has seen nearly a threefold increase in drone incursions so far this year compared with the entirety of 2025, and that it has found more than double the number of drones and drone debris on its territory.
US Intelligence Talks And Poland’s Base Plans
Tusk said his warnings build on months of warnings that Russia could carry out either a limited military action or a hybrid provocation against Poland or the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—in the near future.
He said the latest CIA briefing matched what he had been raising publicly. In late August, Ratcliffe visited Moscow and held talks with Russian intelligence officials, while Polish politicians said possible NATO-related risks could have been among the topics.
On Tuesday, Tomasz Siemoniak, the Polish minister overseeing intelligence services, met Ratcliffe at CIA headquarters in Virginia to discuss Poland’s security and cooperation with the United States.
Meanwhile, an American delegation, including William Cappelletti Jr. of the US Department of Defense and Thomas DiNanno of the Department of State was due to visit Poland on Thursday and Friday to examine potential locations for a permanent US military base there.
Poland has sought for years to host such a base as a guarantee of security amid rising concerns about Russia. Tusk said Poland’s high defence spending and large US arms purchases have persuaded the Trump administration to consider a permanent presence in Poland even as it reorganises and reduces its broader military footprint in Europe.
META: Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk says recent border incidents and a CIA briefing point to a risk of Russia increasing provocations at European crossing points linked to Ukraine.
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12 September 2026
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