He may not have used those exact words, but that is the clear message that Putin has been sending to his opponents outside of Russia — even those living in the supposed safety of NATO countries.
It’s nothing new, of course. One need only think back to the agonizing death of Aleksandr Litvinenko from polonium poisoning in London in 2006; the attempted killing of Sergei Skripal with the military-grade Novichok in Salisbury, England, in 2018; and the brutal attack on Leonid Volkov — a former colleague of the late dissident Alexei Navalny — outside his home in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2024.
And those are just a few of the incidents that have made the headlines.
Lately, however, Putin has stepped up his campaign against his enemies, and particularly those who actively support Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s war of attrition. It appears to be part of his broader “hybrid war” in Europe, which has included drone incursions into NATO air space, sabotage, disinformation campaigns, and cyberattacks.
And now, Polish authorities have thwarted a brazen attempt to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw who, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime.” [Claudia Ciobanu and Emma Burrows, Associated Press, August 13, 2026.]
Tusk said on Thursday: “We must assume that the Putin regime will try to eliminate people who are inconvenient for various reasons, in various places around the world,” and added that Poland and others must be prepared to counter such actions. [Id.]
In fact, Western officials have recently disrupted several such plots in various European locations. And while Russia has a long history of tracking down its enemies outside its borders, intelligence officials have said that the targets now also include Russian activists, foreign supporters of Ukraine, and military defectors. [Id.]
For those of us who lived through the 40-plus years of the Cold War, these incidents are all too familiar. Unfortunately, anyone who still believes that the Cold War ended when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 is living in a dream world.
And that sort of wishful thinking is a luxury that the West simply cannot afford.
Just sayin’ . . .
Brendochka
8/15/26
