Russia threatens Warsaw with destruction if Poland joins war, amid sharp NATO rhetoric

A senior Kremlin aide has threatened that Warsaw would be destroyed if Poland entered military action against Russia, in a fresh escalation of rhetoric between Moscow and NATO states. Nikolai Patrushev, a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Russia would use its entire arsenal of forces and means if Poland joined a conflict against Russia. He said Warsaw would "cease to exist within two or three days".

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The comments were made in an interview with a Russian newspaper and came after Poland's foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said NATO could "quite quickly" defeat Russia if Moscow attacked the alliance. Sikorski made the remarks at the annual Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv. He said NATO's air power superiority over Russia was overwhelming, citing the alliance's 2,500 military aircraft.

Patrushev described Sikorski's comments as an "amateurish assessment" of Russia's military strength. He also said Russia was not using its full potential in its war against Ukraine. In the same remarks, he repeated Moscow's position that Putin has no intention of going to war with Europe.

The exchange adds to a period of heightened tension in which NATO countries have accused Russia of drone-related sabotage, arson and surveillance. The warning matters because Poland is a NATO member and any direct threat against its capital raises the risk of wider confrontation between Russia and the alliance. The remarks also come against the backdrop of continuing concern in Europe over the war in Ukraine and the possibility of spillover beyond its borders.

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For NATO governments, the language used by senior Russian figures is likely to be read as part of a broader deterrence contest. Recent incidents cited by NATO members have added to that concern. Germany, Denmark, the UK and Poland have accused Russia of using drones for sabotage and surveillance.

In Leipzig, a drone rigged with explosives and an unknown substance was found next to a Ukrainian cargo plane in August. Denmark also said one of its air force helicopters was fired on with flares while monitoring a Russian frigate in the Baltic Sea, and a NATO fighter jet was sent to shoot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace overnight. It remains unclear whether the latest threat will prompt any formal response from Warsaw or NATO headquarters.

The immediate focus will be on whether allied governments treat the remarks as isolated rhetoric or as part of a more serious pattern of escalation. What happens next will depend on whether the war of words is followed by further military incidents, diplomatic protests or new deterrence measures.

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