Poland has confirmed that at least 19 drones, most of which came from Belarus, violated its airspace during Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine. Some of the drones were shot down by Polish and allied forces, while the rest returned or fell on the country's territory.
(the news is supplemented with comments from Tusk and official Polish state structures)
As reported by US Republican Representative Joe Wilson, this Russian attack is a direct "act of war" against a NATO country.
"I urge President Trump to respond with mandatory sanctions that will bankrupt the Russian military machine and arm Ukraine with weapons capable of striking Russia," Wilson wrote.
The operational command of the Polish Armed Forces called the drone incursion “an act of aggression that poses a real threat to citizens.” The military said that radars tracked dozens of targets, some of which were shot down, and special services are working at the sites of the debris. Poland and its NATO allies remain “fully prepared for further action.”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had already informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the situation and was coordinating further steps with partners.
Additionally, units of the Polish Territorial Defense Forces (WOT) have been put on high alert . For soldiers in the border provinces (Pidląskie, Masovian, Lublin and Podkarpacie), the time of arrival for duty has been reduced to six hours. In the central and northern regions, it is up to 12 hours, while in other provinces, no immediate calls are planned. The military called on citizens to remain calm and notify the police in case of detection of drone debris.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki also reacted to the incident:
"I will shortly hold a briefing at the National Security Bureau, which will include the Prime Minister. The security of our homeland is our highest priority," he said.
UPD 13:11: According to Reuters, to repel the attack, Poland used its own F-16 fighters, as well as Dutch F-35s and Italian AWACS reconnaissance aircraft as part of NATO forces. The planes were accompanied by tankers operated jointly by the Alliance. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that at least 19 Russian kamikaze drones were recorded in the country's sky, most of which flew in from the direction of Belarus
According to him, the air defense forces were able to destroy 3-4 aircraft. The operational command of the Polish Armed Forces called the incident an "unprecedented violation of airspace" and stated that it was an act of aggression that poses a direct threat to the security of citizens.
NATO and US reaction Poland has requested a consultation with the Alliance under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This mechanism is triggered when the security of a member state is threatened. A NATO spokeswoman confirmed that a meeting on the situation would be held today. At the same time, the Alliance does not consider the incident to be an attack within the meaning of Article 5.
Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak recalled that Article 5 of NATO does not guarantee the automatic entry of all allies into war in the event of an attack on one of the Alliance members.
"Article 5 of NATO does NOT automatically oblige all NATO members to fight if one of them is attacked. There is a wording: each country takes "such actions as it deems necessary". This can be anything: from military assistance to humanitarian assistance or just a statement. Today, you will see once again how statements work, using the example of Poland," Zheleznyak noted.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also responded on his page on the X social network:
"Russian drones that are already flying into Poland show that Putin's impunity is only growing. He continues to test the West, and the weaker the response now, the further his missiles and drones will fly into Europe. Partners must finally allow the use of air defense systems of neighboring countries to intercept targets in the sky over Ukraine, including those approaching NATO borders," the minister emphasized.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are recovering from the night attack by the Russians, in Khmelnytskyi region a garment factory was destroyed, a gas station and transport were damaged, three people were injured. In Vinnytsia region, civilian industrial facilities were hit, initially without casualties. Infrastructure was also damaged in Cherkasy region. Explosions were heard in Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, which indicates the large-scale nature of the attack and the widespread destruction of civilian targets.
Earlier, dev.ua wrote about how Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the law on social assistance for unemployed Ukrainians. In addition, this decision effectively disables Starlink in Ukraine, according to Polish Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski.
