Russian drones Briefly Violated Polish Airspace Duringโข Ukraine Attack,โข NATOโ Confirms
Warsaw, Poland – on September 9th, during โa โขlarge-scale drone attack on โคUkraine, at least 19โ Russian โฃdrones briefly entered Polish airspace, marking the first time in NATO history that enemy โขdevicesโข were intercepted withinโข a โฃmember stateS territory. The Polish military โคresponded by shooting downโค some of the drones,โ prompting a swift reaction from NATO allies andโข raising questions about the evolvingโฃ nature of the conflict.
The incursion occurred โas Russia launchedโข over 400 drones targeting Ukrainian โinfrastructure.โค While โฃthe majority were intercepted byโ Ukrainian air defenses, a number strayed into poland,โฃ triggering a heightened state of โalert. Polish Prime โMinister Donald Tusk has linked the incident โฃtoโ ongoing military exercises between Russia and Belarus, suggesting a possible rehearsal for aggression against a NATO country.
According to aโ timeline of events, Polish โsurveillance and helicopter planes were deployed โto the border starting at 8:35 PM local time. Lublin airport was closed โคat 9:45 PM, followed shortlyโ by theโ addition of an Italian surveillance plane.Warsaw’s main airports were shuttered at 11:00 PM as Patriot radars began detecting the drones. The first โคconfirmed incursion into Polish airspace occurred โat 11:30 PM, coinciding with the resumption of flight by a Dutch fighter โjet.
Polish authorities confirmed that the drones originatedโ from both Ukraine and Belarus โ- an unprecedented advancement.The Polish army prioritized intercepting drones deemed to have destructive โpotential,deliberately avoiding engagements โover populated โareas and allowing less threatening drones to pass through. โข Debris from the downed dronesโข wasโค scatteredโฃ across a wide area, โขwith some remnants found as far as 450 kilometers from theโ border.