Poland strengthens security at border crossings with Ukraine: defence minister

Poland is strengthening security at its border crossings with Ukraine, including by building observation and guard posts near the border, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Tuesday.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-KamyszPAP/Tomasz Waszczuk

Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is also a deputy prime minister, announced the measures in a post on X.

„We are strengthening the protection of our border crossings with Ukraine,” he wrote. „Recent days have shown that Russia’s actions threaten the security of the whole of Europe.”

He said the government had ordered the strengthening of infrastructure used by the Border Guard and that soldiers were already carrying out work to reinforce posts and infrastructure near the Ukrainian border.

The General Command of the Polish Armed Forces said soldiers were carrying out work under the government’s East Shield defence program, including the construction of border fortifications using special military barriers known as Hesco bastions.

The troops are also providing engineering support to the Border Guard, including by building observation and guard posts near the Polish-Ukrainian border crossings of Dorohusk, Medyka and Korczowa, the command said.

Hesco bastions are collapsible wire-mesh containers lined with durable fabric and filled with materials such as sand. They can be used to build temporary fortifications and have largely replaced sandbags, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

Two Geran-5 jet-powered drones struck targets in close proximity to the Polish border during Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine from Saturday into Sunday.

One damaged a train at Yahodyn railway station about 2 kilometres from the Polish border. A second drone struck near a gas station close to the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing.

At an urgent security briefing in Warsaw on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia was escalating its war against Ukraine and that examples of the escalation were appearing increasingly close to Poland’s border.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (centre) chairs a security meeting in Warsaw on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak

On Monday, Tusk met with the defence, foreign, interior and finance ministers, the minister in charge of Poland’s security services, and commanders of the Polish military and law enforcement services.

The talks focused on further measures to strengthen the security of Poland’s borders, reporters were told.

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Source: IAR/PAP

Radio Poland