Nawrocki tells UN assembly Russia is destabilising Europe through hybrid war

Polish President Karol Nawrocki used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to accuse Russia of working to destabilise Europe, pointing to open aggression, hybrid operations, sabotage and what he described as a disregard for successive resolutions of the assembly.

Speaking in Polish during the session, Nawrocki said a permanent member of the Security Council was seeking with "ruthless persistence" to conquer neighbouring states, in violation of the principles upheld by signatories to the UN Charter. He compared what he called Russia's imperial posture to the forces that produced the suffering of the two world wars.

He argued that modern security threats extend well beyond conventional military action. According to Nawrocki, Russia is striking at global food security by attacking ports and ships carrying grain, and is deliberately provoking crises that affect millions of people beyond Europe.

He also described a large-scale hybrid campaign involving sabotage, cyberattacks and destabilisation operations, including what he called an artificially induced migration crisis. Such actions, he said, are planned, coordinated and consistently executed, with the aim of weakening states, eroding public trust and fracturing the unity of the international community.

The address came on the same day that Poland's military said a Russian military helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace along the country's border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Earlier, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is planning hybrid strikes, using drones or rockets, against European countries that support Ukraine, Poland among them.