Poland, alert on Russian border: special forces deployed in the north of the country

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported, on November 3, 2026, that the Border Guard had detected suspicious movements shortly after midnight along the border between Poland and Russia. According to Tusk’s statement before the government meeting, police units, Border Guard personnel and counterterrorism units were sent to the area, after information had arrived about possible acts of sabotage or provocation planned for the first half of November.

Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk provided further details in an interview. The authorities, he said, had information on locations, timing and possible infiltrations by groups he described as reconnaissance and sabotage units. Tomczyk also reported a strengthening of coordination between police, the Border Guard and other security services in the area of the border that Poland shares with the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad.

The two statements, that of the prime minister and that of the deputy defense minister, converge in describing a specific episode — the movements detected shortly after midnight — and a broader framework of preventive alert linked to possible hostile actions in the coming weeks. Neither source provides, at this time, an account of any detentions or material findings on the ground.

The matter is set against a backdrop of already heightened tension on the eastern flank of the European Union, where Poland shares a direct border both with Russia, through the Kaliningrad enclave, and with Belarus. The strengthened coordination between the different security bodies announced by Tomczyk concerns in particular that stretch of border, identified by the deputy minister as the area of greatest attention in recent days’ communications.

It is not clear, based on the statements available, whether the movements detected during the night have already led to detentions or identifications of individuals. It remains to be seen what concrete measures will follow in the coming hours along the stretch of border indicated by the Polish authorities as sensitive.