US intelligence: Putin could test NATO with limited attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin could attempt to test NATO's resolve with a limited attack on a member state within the next few years, US media reported on Saturday.

Outlets including the Wall Street Journal and CNN cited US intelligence reports suggesting possible scenarios ranging from a Russian cyberattack to a small-scale incursion into a NATO country.

According to information from the Wall Street Journal, the United States previously assumed that Putin would not wish to provoke a NATO member while still waging war against Ukraine. However, the newspaper quoted US officials as saying that the assessment changed this year.

The aim of a possible attack by Putin on a NATO country during the ongoing war in Ukraine would be to divide the alliance.

The newspaper also cited the deployment of soldiers in unmarked uniforms to occupy territories as a possible scenario.

The likelihood of this extreme scenario - an incursion into an area on NATO's eastern flank - is low, but is increasing as time goes on, the newspaper wrote. The estimated timeframe for any potential attacks ranges from this autumn to 2029.

According to information from CNN, it is most likely that any attack, whatever its nature, would target the Baltic states or Poland.

The Lithuanian government recently announced that its own military intelligence has information suggesting Moscow might be considering attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic States using Ukrainian drones.