Poland shot down Russian drones with the help of its NATO allies’ military aircraft, it said Wednesday, marking a notable escalation in the tension between Russia and NATO countries since Russia’s war on Ukraine began in 2022.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said 19 drones had entered Poland’s airspace overnight and those that posed a direct threat were shot down. NBC News reported that there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.
Tusk told Poland’s parliament that “this situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.” Tusk emphasized that he did not believe his country is on the brink of war, “but a line has been crossed, and it’s incomparably more dangerous than before.”
Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace around the same time as a large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the incident in Poland “was no accident.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had attacked the ‘military-industrial complex of Ukraine’ in a ‘large-scale strike’ but that ‘there were no targets envisioned for destruction on the Polish territory,’ pointing to the flight range of the drones it said it used against western Ukraine. It said it was ‘ready to hold consultations with the Polish Ministry of Defense on this matter.’
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte denounced Russia’s violation of Polish airspace as “reckless” and affirmed NATO’s solidarity with Poland. Rutte said NATO will closely monitor the situation with “our air defences continually at the ready.”
Poland had announced Tuesday that it would close its border with Belarus on Thursday in response to military exercises its neighbor was conducting with Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”
Polish President Karol Nawrocki is scheduled to speak with Trump later Thursday.