A senior general in the Kremlin declared Wednesday that the signing of an agreement between the U.S. and Poland to build interceptor missiles on Polish territory 'could not go unpunished', that Poland was making itself 'a legitimate target'.

General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, a supporter of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, pointed out that Russia's doctrine permitted the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way aid them."

Russia has long opposed the U.S.'s planned "missile shield" in Europe and reacted with fury to the announcement of the American-Polish pact.