4 hours ago
Poland scrambled its own and Nato air defences to shoot down several drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday morning, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine spread to Nato territory in the most significant way since the full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, convened an emergency meeting of the council of ministers at 8am local time, and said he was in “constant contact” with Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte.
“We are dealing with a large-scale provocation … We are ready to repel such provocations. The situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios,” said Tusk on Wednesday morning. He also said Poland had successfully repelled the attack and insisted that “there is no reason to panic”.
Poland’s military command said more than 10 objects and those that could pose a threat were “neutralised” in the early hours of Wednesday. “Some of the drones that entered our airspace were shot down. Searches and efforts to locate the potential crash sites of these objects are ongoing,” it added.
Polish media said that one of the drones had struck a residential building in eastern Poland, however there were no immediate reports of casualties from the attack.
Russia launches almost nightly attacks on Ukraine using large, kamikaze drones based on an Iranian design and known informally as “Shaheds”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Wednesday morning that 415 drones and 40 missiles had been used in the overnight attack, much of which targeted western parts of the country. One person was killed in Zhytomyr region.
Zelenskyy said the number of drones that entered Polish airspace meant it could not have been an accident, and called on Nato countries to launch a strong response.
“Moscow is always testing the limits of the possible, and if it does not meet a strong reaction, moves to a new level of escalation,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on social media. “Today was another escalatory step … Not one ‘Shahed’, which could have been called an accident, but at least eight attack drones which targeted Poland.”
Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, called on neighbouring countries to shoot down Russian missiles and drones over Ukrainian airspace, especially in the western regions of the country close to the border with Nato nations. “Ukraine has suggested such step for a long time. It needs to be taken for the sake of collective security,” he said.
Up to now Ukraine’s neighbours have declined to do so, fearing the escalatory potential of directly engaging with Russian missiles and drones.
Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s defence commissioner, said the bloc must develop a “drone wall” along its eastern flank to prevent such attacks. “We shall work together with member states, frontier countries and Ukraine. Russia will be stopped,” he wrote on X.
On Friday, Russia and Belarus on Friday will hold a major military drill known as Zapad, which has raised security concerns in the region and led to Poland closing all its land borders with Belarus.
During the drone attack, the Polish authorities closed several airports, including Chopin airport in Warsaw, the country’s largest. Three other airports were also closed due to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security”, including the key logistics and arms transfer hub in the south-eastern city of Rzeszów.
Chopin airport reopened about 7.30am local time, but early morning departures were delayed for several hours and a number of arriving flights were diverted to other Polish airports. An Air China plane from Beijing due to land at Chopin was sent instead to Copenhagen, Polish media reported.
Poland has been on alert for craft entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people. However there had previously been no reports of Polish or other Nato defence forces destroying drones.
The drone strikes took place a day after Poland’s newly elected nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, claimed that Russia was poised to invade more countries. “We do not trust Vladimir Putin’s good intentions,” he told reporters on Tuesday at a press conference in Helsinki.
Donald Trump came into office promising a swift end to the war, but has proved unable to persuade Putin into agreeing a ceasefire. A summit with Putin in Alaska last month yielded little result and Kyiv hopes Trump will now step up pressure on Moscow after a series of deadlines set by the White House for Russia were ignored.
