Poland on high alert, condemns 'act of aggression' after shooting down Russian drones in its airspace

polska said betimes wed that it and its NATO allies had crack land Russian drones that violated Polish airspace in what it called an "act of aggression" as Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine — the first time in the war that Warsaw has engaged Russian assets in its airspace.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that, "Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down."

There were 19 intrusions into Polish airspace overnight with large part of drones entering from Belarus, Tusk said in parliament, adding the shooting down of three drones was confirmed — with the fourth being likely.

"The fact that these drones, which posed a security threat, were shot down changes the political situation. Therefore, allied consultations took the form of a formal request to activate Article 4 of the NATO Treaty," Tusk said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as defence minister, thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.

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.

The regions of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie and Lublin were named most at risk.

Warsaw's Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.

Tusk said on the social platform X that he had briefed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the situation and the actions Poland had taken.

"We are in constant contact with NATO command," Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X. 

NATO's top military commander U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich agreed, saying in a statement it's not only in close contact with Poland but also other allies. A NATO spokesperson says it was the first time its planes had engaged potential threats in allied airspace.

The North Atlantic Council is meeting on Wednesday morning for a regular session and will discuss how NATO responded to the drones that entered Poland overnight, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said.

A Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Poland had not given any evidence that the drones shot down in Poland 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.

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 Sen. 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.

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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 Yarova, a village in the Donetsk region of 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.

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that the drones had targeted Poland during Russian attacks overnight that deployed a total of around 415 drones and over 40 missiles.

"Today there was another step of escalation as Russian-Iranian Shaheds operated in the airspace of Poland, in NATO airspace. It was not just one Shahed that could be called an accident," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

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 Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that the funds will be used for "air and missile defence, 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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