Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Polish airspace was violated by a “huge number of Russian drones” after the Polish armed forces said they had shot down numerous drone-type objects that “repeatedly violated” the country’s skies overnight on Wednesday as Moscow’s forces attacked parts of Ukraine bordering Poland.
Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that “more than 10 objects” crossed into Polish airspace and those that constituted a risk to Poland’s security were neutralised.
The Polish military has been brought to the “highest state of readiness,” it said in a post on X.
Local police confirmed that debris believed to be from a damaged drone was found in the village of Czosnówka in eastern Poland, close to Poland’s border with Belarus.
Warsaw’s Chopin Airport said it remained open but “there were no flight operations for the time being.” Warsaw Modlin, Rzeszów-Jasionka and Lublin airports also suspended flights.
Tusk was “present at the scene”, officials said, with an emergency cabinet meeting called at 8 am on Wednesday.
The operation marks the first time NATO member Poland has directly engaged with Russian assets since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In a post on X, Tusk said he was in “constant contact” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
‘Act of aggression’
The country’s operational command listed three regions vulnerable to the intrusion: Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lublin, all located in the eastern part of Poland bordering Belarus and Ukraine.
It said that some of the drones had been shot down, with efforts to work out the crash sites of the objects under way.
The incident marked an “unprecedented violation of Polish airspace” and “an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” it said in a post on X.
Neighbouring Lithuania — which has also registered Russian drones on its territory — said it stood in “full solidarity” with Poland.
Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign minister, said in a post on X that “Russia’s repeated reckless violations of NATO airspace pose a direct threat to the security of the people and critical infrastructure.”
Poland’s fellow NATO members, including Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, said Russia’s violations of Polish airspace was “unacceptable”.
“Poland has every right to defend its airspace. We give our full support to Poland, as a NATO ally and EU member. Sweden and Poland stand united in our support for Ukraine,” he said.
Poland on high alert
Speaking in front of the European Parliament to deliver her State of the EU speech on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the Russian incursion into Poland’s airspace.
“Just today, we have seen a reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe’s airspace by more than 10 Russian Shahed drones. Europe stands in full solidarity with Poland,” she said, prompting a standing ovation in the hemicycle.
“Putin’s message is clear. And our response must be clear too,” von der Leyen stated.
“We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table. We need more sanctions. We are now working on the 19th package in coordination with partners,” the Commission chief announced.
“We are particularly looking at phasing out Russian fossil fuels faster. We’re looking at the shadow fleet and at third countries.”
Warsaw’s operation comes as much of Ukraine, including the western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, were under air raid alert for Russian missile and drone attacks overnight through Wednesday.
Three people were injured in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.
One person was killed and one injured in the Zhytomyr region overnight, with multiple residential buildings in the Vinnytsia and Cherkasy regions damaged.
Poland remains on high alert for drones entering its airspace as a result of its proximity to Ukraine and Belarus.
On Sunday, Poland’s border guard said it found the remains of a drone with Russian markings after it crashed approximately 300 metres from the country’s border with Belarus.
In July, a Russian military drone crashed in a cornfield and exploded in eastern Poland in what the country’s defence ministry said was a “provocation.” In 2022, a Ukrainian missile killed two people when it struck a village in southern Poland.