As Russian aggression turns West, Poland says it's ready

Warsaw has doubled the size of its military since 2014 and boosted military spending to nearly 5% as Russia grows more assertive

- Thomas Grove & Karolina Jeznach

For more than a decade, Poland has prepared for the worst-case scenario: becoming the front line in a war between Russia and the West.

With an eye on growing Russian aggression in Europe, Warsaw's military planners built out the country's armed forces, turning it last year into the largest European military in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It ramped up military spending to 4.7% of gross domestic product this year the highest in the alliance. A multibillion-dollar spending spree has put Poland among the biggest buyers of U.S. weapons.

The growth of the Polish military has reached a zenith just as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates his standoff with the West. Last month, Polish airspace was violated by some 20 Russian drones, equipped with additional fuel tanks to help them fly farther.

The incursion, followed by other UAV sightings across Europe, triggered the first confrontation between NATO jet fighters and Russian drones over alliance territory-a step Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said had brought the country closest to open conflict since World War II. Putin has dismissed the drone incident and says European governments and NATO accuse it of provocations on a nearly daily basis.

Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and recent steps to test the alliance have highlighted Poland's long-ignored warning that Russia, under Putin, wants to resurrect its traditional sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

Poland suffered under Russian occupation for centuries. Every schoolchild learns how larger European empires, including Russia, divided up the country among themselves in the 18 undefined and 19 undefined centuries, temporarily erasing it from the map. In WWII, the U.K. and France failed to prevent the country's invasion by the Nazis, despite mutual defense treaties. When the Soviets followed with their own invasion, it led to half a century under Moscow's heel.