Polish general: Russia may soon carry out provocation against NATO country
In the coming months, Russia may carry out a provocation, likely with casualties, against one of the NATO countries in Eastern Europe to divert attention from the launch of a new offensive in Ukraine.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Jarosław Kraszewski, a retired Polish general and current head of a private defense company (RBL Defence Polska).
"I estimate the probability of this happening in the near future at approximately 75-80 percent. It could be at the junction of Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, or in the Baltic Sea. This provocation will be aimed at diverting the West's attention from a new major Russian offensive in Ukraine. In other words, it is a provocation that will tie up European forces and resources and divert attention from Ukraine. The Russians may carry out a provocation against one of the NATO countries just before the start of the offensive in Ukraine, possibly in April-May," said the retired Polish general.
In his opinion, this could be, for example, sabotage against the energy infrastructure connecting the Kaliningrad region with Belarus.
"The FSB does not care about its own citizens, so they can sacrifice them to show that, for example, the Poles blew up something together with the Ukrainians or cut some cables. And then they will say that they will also do something in response, for example, in Suwałki [northeastern Poland]. It could be anything, for example, an environmental disaster - damage to a chemical tank or an attack on the energy sector. They will want there to be human casualties," the retired Polish general stressed.
As reported by Ukrinform, an attempted cyberattack against the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Poland has been recorded.