Poland’s Border Guard has repelled a Russian cutter spotted near a gas pipeline off the coast of Szczecin, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed. 

“The Border Guard observed dangerous manoeuvres by the vessel and acted swiftly to deter it. In such cases we must respond firmly but prudently,” he told reporters.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk had first disclosed the incident, saying that Russian units were involved in Wednesday’s events close to the Szczecin port. According to the Interior Ministry, the cutter, approaching from Russian waters, drifted for around 20 minutes within 300 metres of the pipeline transporting gas from an offshore platform to land, before complying with an order to leave the area.

Kosiniak-Kamysz underlined that Polish services are also tasked with monitoring the so-called “shadow fleet” vessels often linked to opaque entities, lacking insurance and allegedly used by Russia to bypass international sanctions. 

He noted that the Border Guard, the Naval Operations Centre and the Air Operations Centre work jointly to track suspect ships, adding that similar incidents occur “every day” in or near Polish territorial waters.

Source: PAP

Photo: @marekgrobarczyk/X

Tomasz Modrzejewski