Early Wednesday morning, Poland shot down several Russian drones that had violated its airspace during a massive strike against western Ukraine. The Polish military operation, confirmed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk through a social media message in the early morning hours, marks a turning point in Warsaw’s involvement in the conflict that has affected the region for more than two and a half years. The Polish defense agency reported the presence of more than 10 objects coming from Ukrainian airspace and called the violation an “act of aggression.”
Poland Invokes NATO Article 4
In response to the raid, Poland activated Article 4 of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty, requesting immediate consultations with allies. Tusk urgently convened a meeting of the Council of Ministers at 8 am local time, maintaining constant contact with the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, to coordinate the political and diplomatic response.
Article 4 allows a NATO member to solicit consultations whenever it believes its security, territorial integrity, or political independence is threatened. Unlike Article 5, which provides for collective military action in the event of an armed attack, Article 4 does not compel immediate military action, but its activation nevertheless constitutes a significant political escalation, as it emphasizes the unity of the alliance in responding to perceived threats against NATO members.
Poland had already been on high alert for possible aircraft overruns since at least November 2022, when a stray Ukrainian missile accidentally hit a village in the south of the country, killing two people. Until now, however, there had been no recorded cases of Polish or allied defense systems shooting down drones on national territory. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that “at least eight” Iranian-made Shahed drones were “aimed in the direction of Poland” during the nighttime attack, suggesting the incursion into Polish airspace was intentional.
NATO Defense Activated
Residents of the affected Polish areas reported hearing explosions in the sky during the night, followed by the activation of warning sirens. The alert was triggered precisely during a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s western regions, particularly those in Volyn and Lviv that directly border Poland.
According to information released by the Polish military command, national and NATO air defense systems were activated immediately after radar detected the entry of unmanned aircraft into Polish airspace. The interception operation continued for several hours, with the armed forces neutralizing objects deemed dangerous using air defense systems. The search for the wreckage of the downed drones is still ongoing in the eastern parts of the country as of midday Wednesday.
Airports Temporarily Closed
The intervention led to the temporary closure of four airports, including Warsaw-Chopin and Lublin, as well as the Rzeszów airport, which has become a crucial hub for sending Western military aid to Ukraine in the past two years. The United States Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the temporary closure of the Polish airports for “unplanned military activity related to national security.”
The Russian drone strike also hit eastern Ukraine hard: According to reports by the BBC citing local Ukrainian officials, 24 people were killed and 19 wounded in an air raid on a village in the Donetsk region, where the victims were standing in line to collect their pensions. The incident comes amid a particularly intense phase of the conflict, where Moscow’s troops are carrying out a slow but steady offensive in much of Donetsk, in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, diplomatic attempts to reach a peace agreement have essentially stalled, and contacts between Washington and Moscow in recent months have produced no concrete results.
Rising Tensions
The incident comes at a time of particular tension in the region. Only 24 hours before Poland shot down Russia’s drones, the Polish president warned during a press conference in Helsinki that Russian president Vladimir Putin would be ready to invade other countries after the aggression against Ukraine. The timing of the incursion takes on even greater significance when one considers that on Friday, September 13, Russia and Belarus will kick off joint military exercises dubbed “Zapad,” which have already raised regional security concerns.
Poland had announced Tuesday that it was closing its border with Belarus precisely in response to what Warsaw calls “very aggressive” maneuvers, in addition to the growing number of provocations by Moscow and Minsk. Neighboring Lithuania has also decided to tighten border controls, a sign of widespread alertness among NATO member countries that border Russia and Belarus.
Wednesday’s incident also comes at a delicate time for international diplomacy: US president Donald Trump declared over the weekend that he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctions against Russia after months of unsuccessful negotiations for a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. The downing of drones on Polish territory now risks further complicating any mediation efforts.
This story originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.
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