Poland launches special operation on the border with Kaliningrad

Poland's police, border guards and army have launched a large-scale operation on the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

There had been indications that acts of sabotage could take place on the border with Kaliningrad in the coming days, Police Chief Marek Boron told the radio station RMF FM on Tuesday.

"We must ensure the safety of the citizens living there, but also protect the infrastructure and deal with any possible situations that could pose a threat to the population," the police chief added.

Police in the border region have been reinforced with personnel from other parts of the country, he said.

The army's elite GROM unit is also deployed there, a military spokesman told the Fakt newspaper.

Poland, a member of the EU and NATO, shares a 232-kilometre-long border with Kaliningrad. This heavily fortified Russian territory is surrounded by NATO members Poland and Lithuania and is regarded as "Moscow's unsinkable aircraft carrier."

Earlier this year there were reports in the US media citing new intelligence suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin might attempt to test NATO's resolve with a limited attack on a member state.

Possible scenarios range from a cyberattack to a small-scale incursion by soldiers in unmarked uniforms into a NATO country.