EUROPE — Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Military-Industrial Commission in the Kremlin on September 18 that a new State Armament Program and a companion defense-industry program will set what the army and other security services design and build in series. In the same session he said Russia has no plans to attack Europe.
The session opened in public and then moved into a closed portion. He listed six program lines: the nuclear triad; air defenses meant to stop aircraft, missiles, and other airborne and space weapons; unmanned robotic systems; precision munitions; a finished orbital satellite group; and further work on digital systems and artificial intelligence. He put Strategic Missile Forces modernization at 92 percent.
On September 17, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Sejm that allied intelligence predicts drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s supporters, including Poland, as part of Russia’s plan for the coming months.
He said Moscow would present those hits as accidents so that NATO states would hesitate before treating an attack on one ally as an attack on all under Article 5. He also said there was nothing to suggest an invasion. The Sejm record lists that address as an out-of-agenda statement by the prime minister on sitting 65.
