Poland is preparing to deploy 10,000 soldiers to protect critical infrastructure across its entire range in order to prevent acts of sabotage and enhance the level of security for Polish citizens, Polish Defence Minister Wladislaw Koscijanak-Kamish announced today.

The plan comes in response to last weekend’s rail network sabotage incidents, which Foreign Minister Randoslaw Sikorski had earlier described as “state terrorism” by Russia.

Earlier today, Warsaw ordered the hasty take-off of Polish and coalition fighters and AWACS aircraft in the early hours of the morning amid Russian missile and drone strikes in sectors of western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, the operations command of the NATO member state’s general staff said.

“Pairs of rapid reaction fighters and an early warning aircraft were rushed off and ground-based air defence and airspace surveillance systems were put on maximum alert,” the command explained via X.

Country on alert after sabotage incidents attributed to Russia

Recall that Warsaw announced yesterday that it would introduce a higher threat level on some railway lines and use the military to protect critical infrastructure. The statement came in the wake of incidents of “Russian-origin” sabotage, such as the explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line, which connects the Polish capital with the Ukrainian border.

The climate of concern in Poland is reflected in the statement by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General Vislav Kukula, that Russia “has begun preparing for war” and that his country “has entered a pre-war phase.”