NATO says Russia's train strike will buoy military support for Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border one of which hit a train shortly after senior visiting officials had passed through the same station, would drive the military alliance to increase its support for Kyiv.

The strikes "close to NATO territory" show Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror," Rutte said at NATO's political headquarters in Brussels.

He said "Russia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine."

Rutte pledged to increase support for Ukraine and bolster the 32-nation alliance's own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia.

"He thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong," the NATO chief said of Putin.

Sunday's strikes near the Polish border are the latest in a string of incidents that officials say point to a deliberate pattern of escalation by Putin, as Moscow tests NATO's response while pressing its offensive in Ukraine.