Poland on high alert after shooting down Russian drones in its airspace

polska said it scrambled its possess and NATO beam defences  wed in prescribe to shoot down Russian drones that entered its airspace after an air attack on western Ukraine, the first time in the Ukraine war that Warsaw has engaged Russian assets in its airspace.

Poland's military command said Polish airspace was repeatedly violated by "drone-type objects" during the Russian attack across the border in Ukraine.

"An operation is underway aimed at identifying and neutralizing these objects," it said in a statement. "Weapons have been used, and service personnel are carrying out actions to locate the downed objects."

It said the military operation was ongoing and urged people to stay at home, naming the regions of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie and Lublin as most at risk.

"The operational command of the Polish armed forces is monitoring the situation, and subordinate forces and units remain on full readiness for immediate response," it said.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X that "multiple violations of Polish airspace" had occurred and that he had briefed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the situation and the actions Poland had taken.

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Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Polish aircraft had "used weapons against hostile objects."

"We are in constant contact with NATO command," he said on the social platform X. 

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's deputy minister of national defence, said on X earlier Wednesday that Tusk was "present at the scene of the operations."

Poland also closed four airports, including its main Chopin Airport in Warsaw, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. There was no official confirmation from Polish authorities that any airports had been closed.

The Rzeszow–Jasionka Airport in Poland's southeast, a hub for passenger and arms transfers to Ukraine, was among the airports that had been temporarily closed, the FAA said.

"This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens," the operational command of the Polish armed forces said on X.

U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said on Tuesday. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the United States, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said reports of repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones were a sign that "Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations."

"After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored," he said on X.

Republican representative Joe Wilson, a senior member of the foreign affairs committee, said in a post on X that Russia was "attacking NATO ally Poland" with drones, calling it an "act of war."

He urged U.S. President Donald Trump to respond with sanctions "that will bankrupt the Russian war machine."

"Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory," he said.

Poland's armed forces were already on a heightened state of alert overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday because of what they described as "further massive airstrikes against targets located in Ukraine."

"Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest level of alert," the operational command of Poland's armed forces said in a statement posted on social media.

A Russian glide bomb struck a village in Eastern Ukraine as people stood in line in the open air Tuesday morning to collect their monthly pension. The blast killed at least 24 people and injured 19 others, the Ukraine Emergency Service said.

It was the latest Russian attack to kill civilians. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the three-year war, the United Nations says.

"Frankly brutal," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram of Tuesday's attack, urging the international community to make Russia pay economically for its full-scale invasion through additional sanctions.

"The world should not remain silent," Zelenskyy wrote.

Wednesday's confrontation comes as Poland is expected to get $51.3 billion US under a European Union program to boost its defence capabilities, a deputy prime minister said earlier on Tuesday, as Warsaw builds up its armed forces due to what it sees as an increased Russian threat.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence that Europe take more responsibility for its own security prompted Brussels to form the $175.6 billion US Security Action for Europe (SAFE) fund.

The money allocated to Poland means that it will be the biggest beneficiary of the scheme.

Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as defence minister, wrote on X that the funds will be used for "air and missile defense, artillery systems, ammunition purchases, drones, and anti-drone systems."

Poland is the biggest spender on its armed forces relative to the size of its economy in NATO and plans to spend 4.8 per cent of GDP on defence in 2026.

Poland has been keeping a close eye on objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people, a few months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But there have been no reports of Polish or allied defence systems destroying drones.

It said earlier it would close its border with Belarus on Thursday at midnight local time as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus.

Russia and Belarus's large-scale military exercises, known as the Zapad drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Lithuania said defences along its border with Belarus and Russia would be strengthened due to the exercises.

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