Poland at its closest to open conflict since WWII, says PM after Russian drone incursion

London: Poland scrambled fighter jets to shoot down drones that crossed into its territory in what it called an “act of aggression” during a Russian attack on Ukraine, marking a dangerous escalation of the war in Europe.

NATO air defences were mobilised and major airports grounded flights as Polish authorities restricted airspace to intercept the drones, leading the Polish government to invoke the NATO security pact and call for urgent talks with allies.

“During today’s attack by the Russian Federation targeting objects on the territory of Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drone-type objects,” Poland’s military said in a statement.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament there had been 19 intrusions into the country’s airspace overnight, with many of the drones entering from neighbouring Belarus, adding that three drones, and perhaps a fourth, were shot down.

“I have no reason to claim we’re on the brink of war, but a line has been crossed, and it’s incomparably more dangerous than before,” he told parliament, the BBC reported.

“This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two.”

In a major step to call on help from allies, Tusk formally invoked Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which calls for military discussions when “the territorial integrity, political independence or security” of a member state is threatened.

Earlier, Tusk had convened an extraordinary meeting of Poland’s Council of Ministers, and said he was in “constant communication with the secretary general of NATO and our allies”.

A NATO source told Reuters the Russian drones entered Polish airspace shortly after midnight on Tuesday night (8am Wednesday AEST), and initial indications suggested it was an intentional incursion.

The incident marks the first time NATO aircraft have engaged “potential threats” in allied airspace, a NATO spokesperson said. Polish F-16 fighters, Dutch F-35s, Italian early warning aircraft and NATO midair refuelling planes were involved in the operation.

The NATO council is meeting on Wednesday for a regular session and will discuss the response to the drone incursion, the spokesperson added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the drone incursion into Poland was “simply unacceptable,” adding that he would speak soon to NATO chief Mark Rutte.

“We will not compromise on the safety of our allies,” Macron wrote in a post on X.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said early indications suggested the incident was intentional and described it as “the most serious European airspace violation by Russia” since the war began in early 2022.

“The EU stands in full solidarity with Poland. Russia’s war is escalating, not ending. We must raise the cost to Moscow, strengthen support for Ukraine and invest in Europe’s defence,” she said.

Kallas said that she was in contact with NATO and Poland’s foreign minister and was following developments.

The Polish military said efforts were under way to locate the drone crash sites and warned members of the public not to touch wreckage or fragments.

A drone or similar object hit a residential building in Wyryki in eastern Poland, but nobody was injured, the local mayor told state-run news channel TVP Info, and Polish police said a damaged drone had been found in the eastern village of Czosnowka.

A Russian diplomat said Poland had not provided any evidence that the drones were of Russian origin, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported.

“We see the accusations as groundless. No evidence that these drones are of Russian origin has been presented,” Andrey Ordash, Russia’s charge d’affaires in Poland, was quoted as saying.

‘Moscow always pushes the boundaries’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces sent 415 drones and more than 40 cruise and ballistic missiles into Ukraine in the latest attacks.

He said that at least two of the Russian drones that entered Poland had used Belorusian airspace and that “around two dozen” drones might have entered Polish airspace as part of a bigger group flying along the border of Ukraine and Belarus.

“Moscow always pushes the boundaries of what is possible, and if it does not encounter a strong reaction, it remains at the new level of escalation,” he said on X.

“Today there was another step of escalation – Russian-Iranian Shaheds [drones] operated in the airspace of Poland, in NATO airspace. It was not just one Shahed that could be called an accident, but at least eight strike drones aimed toward Poland.”

Russia’s version of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone is a small, delta-winged aircraft guided by GPS to hit a target with a warhead of up to 50 kilograms of explosives. The propeller-driven drone has a range of about 2500 kilometres.

Zelensky said the incident was an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe” and called for tougher sanctions against Russia from Western allies, although he did not name US President Donald Trump or make any direct criticism of American policy.

“The Russians must feel the consequences. Russia must feel that the war cannot be expanded and will have to be ended.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The emergency over Poland came after a wave of Russian missiles and drones struck areas across Ukraine, including a strike that killed 24 elderly people who were collecting pensions in a village in the country’s east.

‘Unplanned military activity’

Polish and NATO aircraft were scrambled about midnight on Tuesday after the Ukrainian Air Force warned on social media that Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.

Flight tracking accounts on X reported that NATO aircraft, including F-35 fighters, were operating over Poland. A Dutch Air Force A330 tanker aircraft used to refuel fighter jets appeared to be flying in a holding pattern over the east of the country, Flightradar24 data showed.

Four airports in Poland, including the country’s largest, Chopin Airport in Warsaw, were closed due to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security”, notices posted to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website said.

Chopin Airport reopened early on Wednesday, the airport said in a statement on X, but warned that disruptions and delays might last throughout the day.

Overnight, most of Ukraine, including the western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland and are far from the Russian-Ukrainian war front line, were under air raid alerts for several hours, according to Ukrainian air force data.

In a separate development, Poland announced it would close its border with Belarus on Thursday at midnight (Polish time) as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus amid escalating tensions between Minsk and Warsaw.

Russia and Belarus’ large-scale military exercises, known as the “Zapad” drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Zapad-2025 (“West 2025”) will be held in western Russia and Belarus.

NATO is holding drills on its side of the border about the same time. Poland and Lithuania began exercises this month, with allied troops taking part.

Russian troops have pressed a grinding offensive across much of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

With Reuters

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