Poland said it shot down Russian drones that entered its airspace during an attack on Ukraine early Wednesday, a first for a NATO member state since the Kremlin invaded its neighbor.
“Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a post on X. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down.”
The Polish military’s operational command said it had “neutralized” a number of potential security threats after radars tracked them crossing into Polish airspace, adding that it was locating the crash sites. It called it an “act of aggression.”
The military had advised people to stay home while the operation was ongoing, citing at risk areas near the border with western Ukraine, but said hours later that it had concluded its operations. It thanked NATO air command and the Dutch air force who it said scrambled F-35 fighter jets.
Tusk said that he was in touch with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “The security of our Homeland is the highest priority,” Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on X.
NATO confirmed its assets were engaged.
“Numerous drones entered Polish airspace overnight and were met with Polish and NATO air defenses,” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said on X.
This is the first time NATO assets have directly engaged with Russian targets since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. It’s the latest escalation in Moscow’s aerial bombardment of Ukraine, in defiance of the peace deal that President Donald Trump has tried to broker with Kyiv.
Increasing evidence, including the direction of travel, indicated this “was no accident,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, adding that at least eight Iranian-made “Shahed” drones had crossed over into Poland.
The strikes had set an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe,” he said in separate post.
The E.U. called it the “most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began.”
“Indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental,” European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas wrote on X.
The Russian incursion resulted in the closure of airspace over at least three airports in Poland, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. This included Warsaw’s Chopin airport and the Rzeszów–Jasionka airport, a logistical hub for military and passenger transfers to Ukraine.
Chopin airport later said on X that airspace had been reopened.
Ukraine said Russia was expanding its war and “testing the West.” Neighboring countries should use their aerial firepower to intercept drones and missiles in the Ukrainian airspace “for the sake of collective security,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
The Ukrainian air force issued warnings of dozens of Russian drones and missiles attacking its own territory early Wednesday.
Ukraine had shot down 415 drones and over 40 missiles since Tuesday evening, the air force said. Zelenskyy said one person had been killed and three more injured in the strikes.
Poland and the U.S. are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which at its core is a mutual defense pact, meaning an attack on one may be considered an attack on all.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, neighboring Poland has remained on high alert, especially after a stray Ukrainian missile struck a Polish village just a few months into the war in 2022 and killed two people there. Stray Russian missiles have also briefly entered Polish airspace on at least two occasions.
In the U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN he had been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland as he left a dinner with President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the NATO airspace violation was a sign that “Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”
“After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored,” he said on X.
