War in Europe

Councillor Putin: ‘If Poland attacks us, it will be wiped out in 2–3 days’

Nikolay Patrushev, an adviser to the Russian president, has responded to statements by the Polish Foreign Minister to the effect that, in a military conflict, Poland would defeat Russia

15 September 2026

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Il presidente della Lituania Gitanas Nauseda parla con i giornalisti al suo arrivo al centro scientifico Arktikum in occasione del Vertice europeo sull’Artico, a Rovaniemi, in Finlandia, il 14 settembre 2026. Lehtikuva/Jouni Porsanger via REUTERS via REUTERS

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

If Poland were to go to war with Russia, Moscow ‘would deploy its entire arsenal of available forces and resources, and the Polish state would cease to exist within two or three days’. This was stated by Nikolay Patrushev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the website of the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, as reported by TASS. Patrushev cited statements by the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, according to which Poland would defeat Russia in a military conflict. According to Putin’s adviser, Sikorski’s assessment of Russian military power is ‘amateurish’.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has also released footage of a new drone attack on the Yahodyn border post in the Ukrainian region of Volhynia, on the border with Poland, which had already been hit last Sunday. “Regular raids on Ukraine’s border crossings are disrupting land supply lines for military aid in the vicinity of key transport and logistics hubs for the Ukrainian forces,” the ministry commented, as quoted by the TASS news agency.

Italian NATO fighter jets shoot down Russian drone over Lithuania

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has announced that Italian NATO fighter jets shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace. The drone crashed in a rural area near Lake Kaunas, in the central part of the country, which, along with the other Baltic states, regularly experiences drone intrusions into its territory.

The first instance of a foreign drone being shot down in the skies over a Baltic state since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine dates back to 19 May, when a NATO fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia. According to European sources, Moscow is deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones – which are intended to target industrial plants and oil terminals in the St Petersburg region, situated on the Gulf of Finland – off their intended course.

Russian frigate fires two flares and narrowly misses a Danish helicopter

Another incident of tension between Russia and Europe involves a Russian frigate that fired two signal rockets at a Danish military helicopter in international waters off the coast of Denmark. The flares, according to a statement from the Danish army cited by the Copenhagen Post, narrowly missed the aircraft. The helicopter was carrying out a routine mission to photograph the Russian vessel, the Danish Defence Command reported. Copenhagen will summon the Russian ambassador to discuss the incident, Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus announced separately to broadcaster TV2.

Ucraina, 1655° giorno di guerra
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Negotiations continue

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced today that he will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the situation in Ukraine. “I would also like to gain some insight into the State Department’s views on the matter,” Lavrov emphasised, as quoted by the Interfax news agency. The minister also added that Russia is ready to negotiate on Ukraine and has never attempted to delay or complicate this process. “Therefore, if our colleagues are ready, I think it is entirely possible to resume negotiations. We have something to say,” Lavrov stated, emphasising that Moscow is prepared to conduct negotiations in both bilateral and trilateral formats.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that, as far as Russia is concerned, US President Donald Trump’s proposal to suspend Russian and Ukrainian attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure is ‘a good idea’, but it is not enough to resolve the problems affecting the export of oil products to world markets.

Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian logistics and ports

Meanwhile, drone attacks are also continuing in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defence has reported that, overnight, the Russian military struck several Ukrainian logistics centres and ports, as well as naval vessels used by the Ukrainian armed forces. Russian drone raids have also been reported in the Ukrainian capital, where one person was seriously injured.

In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko has reported that Russian forces have struck a petrol station. “In the Darnytskyi district, paramedics have taken one injured person to hospital. The man is in a serious condition,” Klitschko said. According to initial reports, several warehouses in the Obolonskyi district were also hit.

Ukrainian raids on Russian refineries

Ukrainian forces, too, continue to strike deep into Russian territory. Overnight, air strikes launched from Kyiv are reported to have hit the Syzran refinery in the Samara region of Russia, as well as several targets in Taganrog, in the Rostov region.

In the Belgorod region, meanwhile, two people have been killed and three injured in the last 24 hours following attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces. This was reported today by the acting governor, Alexander Shuvaev. “A civilian was killed during a targeted attack by the Ukrainian armed forces in the Graivoronsky district. Furthermore, a woman who had sustained serious injuries in the Borisovsky district on 4 September died in hospital,” Shuvaev wrote on the Max platform.