Polish intelligence chief: Russia may use 'little green men' in Baltic states

Paweł Szota, the head of Poland's Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW), said in an interview with the newspaper Rzeczpospolita that Russia might conduct provocations against the Baltic states using so-called "little green men" – soldiers in unmarked green fatigues. According to him, such actions are part of Moscow's strategy to test NATO's reaction.

Szota believes that Russia poses the most immediate military threat to Poland. In his view, Moscow sees Poland and other NATO eastern flank countries as obstacles to achieving its imperial ambitions. Polish intelligence is currently analyzing various scenarios of Russian provocations in the Baltic region, including possible operations involving "little green men."

"Russia is systematically moving 'red lines', testing NATO's response. The cost of such provocations for Moscow is low, and the Alliance responds mainly at the political level, which encourages further escalation," Szota said. He also noted that the war in Ukraine has been a major humiliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin, meaning that unpredictability on Russia's part must be expected.

Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned that Russia could stage a "false flag operation" to justify an attack on a NATO member state. Latvian intelligence has also warned that Russia is preparing possible provocations against the Baltic states or Poland, including drone attacks and other hybrid actions, in an effort to force NATO countries to stop supporting Ukraine. However, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has dismissed concerns that Russia intends to test NATO's Article 5 or launch an attack on any Alliance member in the near future.