WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.
“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.
Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.
Drones rattle Baltic NATO members
Leaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian aggression — expressed deep concerns.
“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukriane and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”
Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.
The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.
Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.
Russian objects have entered Polish airspace before
Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.
In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.
In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.
NATO members vow support
NATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.
Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided support to the Polish air force overnight.
“Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Shoof said in the Dutch language message on X.
German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.
NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the drones was an “important precedent.”
Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine
Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.
“At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.
Russian drones injured three people 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 Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses suffered damage.
In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.
In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on Telegram.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.
