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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Ukrzaliznytsia Railway Company Press Office, a locomotive damaged in a Russian drone attack is seen at Yahodyn railway station near Ukraine’s border with Poland, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Ukrzaliznytsia Railway Company Press Office via AP)<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Ukrzaliznytsia Railway Company Press Office via AP<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, right, speaks during a joint news conference with Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026.<\/p>\n
AP Photo\/<\/p>\n
FILE – Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrives for the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Omar Havana\/AP Photo\/Omar Havana<\/p>\n
WARSAW, Poland (AP) \u2014 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border would drive the military alliance to increase its support for Kyiv, calling the attacks on Sunday a sign of growing desperation by the forces under Russian President Vladimir.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe strikes yesterday on trains in Ukraine close to NATO territory again show Putin\u2019s desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror,\u201d Rutte said at NATO\u2019s political headquarters in Brussels. \u201cRussia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Rutte pledged to increase support for Ukraine and bolster the 32-nation alliance\u2019s own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong,\u201d the NATO chief said of Putin.<\/p>\n
Rutte’s comments came as Poland pledged increased security along its border with Ukraine after a wave of Russian drone strikes near the frontier, including two that landed within kilometers of Polish territory.<\/p>\n
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Sunday that Moscow appears poised to intensify its campaign against Ukraine\u2019s borders with European countries. Ukraine is under mounting pressure from Russia\u2019s intensifying air campaign that uses ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce defenses.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese coming weeks and months will be a time of very intensified actions on the Russian side, and unfortunately we cannot rule out that this escalation will also affect our territory,\u201d Tusk said Sunday after a governmental security briefing in Warsaw. He issued a similar warning on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Defense Minister W\u0142adys\u0142aw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Monday in a post on X that the Polish army recovered what was believed to be a Russian military drone from the Baltic Sea near the coastal village of Jaroslawiec.<\/p>\n
Polish officials said intelligence reports, including a CIA briefing last week, suggested Russia was likely to attack border points and intensify sabotage actions inside European countries as part of its efforts to discourage partners from supporting Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Tusk said he would consult NATO allies on preparing a potential joint response.<\/p>\n
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Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski underscored the alliance\u2019s military edge in a social media post, saying that in the event of Russian aggression against NATO, European NATO air forces, without U.S. participation, would be capable of destroying half of Russia\u2019s oil refineries faster than Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk described Sunday\u2019s drone strikes as a serious escalation from Russia. He told broadcaster TVN24 on Monday that any spillover into European countries could take the form of sabotage or a sharp intensification of hybrid warfare \u201con a scale that we have not seen before,\u201d or other actions along NATO\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
The warnings followed a strike Sunday on a train near the Ukraine-Poland border, minutes after a diplomatic delegation that included former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt had passed through the same station, according to Ukraine\u2019s state rail operator. A second strike hit near a separate border crossing point between Poland and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Monday that the drone attacks near Poland’s border were \u201cclearly meant to scare Western countries from supporting Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe should show that we are there for Ukraine and we are not scared,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked Monday about the strike on the train near the Polish border, said Russian forces were operating \u201cacross the entire territory of Ukraine and continues to do so \u2014 and will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peskov noted the potential role of Global South nations in a settlement, saying \u201cany country can use its influence on the Kyiv regime to encourage it to show greater flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi each expressed willingness to help broker a settlement during recent meetings with Putin, who briefed them on the situation in Ukraine, Peskov said.<\/p>\n
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Peskov also addressed U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s call for Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian diesel fuel facilities, saying \u201cany call on the Kyiv regime to stop strikes on civilian economic infrastructure can only be welcomed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record on Friday, soaring past an average of $6 per gallon.<\/p>\n
Morton reported from London. Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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