Vladimir Putin could be planning to carry out “mass casualty attacks” on NATO members including the UK and the US, a Russian expert has warned.
“Acts of air terror” targeting airlines could be among the avenues chosen to retaliate against the military alliance for its support of Ukraine, Keir Giles, a leading expert on Russia at Chatham House said.
The warning is unlikely to dispel fears of World War 3 erupting between Russia and European nations, with outspoken MP Aleksey Zhuravlyov also fanning the flames by claiming that the country “will not be shy” about targeting perceived enemies earlier this week.
The Kremlin’s suspected involvement in incidents across Europe and the US could be “reconnaissance and probing for a future more serious combination of attacks across Europe”, Mr Giles told Newsweek.
The US and UK’s relaxation of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of supplied long-range missiles to fight Russian troops could be a turning point for the country’s retaliation towards NATO members.
“The key point we should bear in mind [is] that none of the restraints that any normal country would take for granted apply to Russia,” the expert said. “They’ve already demonstrated the recklessness that leads us to say they are plainly not ruling out mass casualty attacks.”
The war in Ukraine has also shown that Putin is “not constrained by the thought of large numbers of innocent victims,” he added.
However, a great deal could depend on how president-elect Donald Trump handles the Russia-Ukraine conflict after taking office next week.
A more Putin-friendly approach could dampen Russian antagonisation while a hardline policy will likely to see the retributive campaign extended to North America.
It comes after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia was “planning acts of terror in the air not only against Poland, but against airlines all over the world” during a press conference this week.
“All I can say, and I will not go into details, but I can confirm the validity of these fears,” he said, without elaborating on the bombshell accusation.
Russia was accused of a series of attacks abroad last year, including shooting down a passenger plane in Azerbaijani and cutting underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.
Poland has also accused Russia and ally Belarus of escalating a migration crisis on the EU’s Belarusian border to sow chaos and division in the alliance.
The Kremlin has dismissed previous claims that Russia has been involved in acts of sabotage and attacks in Europe, however.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Mr Tusk’s accusation was “completely unsubstantiated” and suggested that Poland was “well known for such unsubstantiated accusations”.
