A Polish air drive F-16 is flanked on both aspect by Dassault Rafale fighter jets as they carry out a flyover throughout the Nationwide Military Day army parade in Warsaw, Poland, on August 15, 2025.
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Poland’s army on Wednesday decried an “unprecedented violation” because the nation’s airspace was breached by a lot of Russian drones that have been shot down.
Within the early hours of Wednesday morning, Poland’s army mentioned it scrambled its personal and NATO air defenses to take down drones that entered its airspace amid a widespread Russian assault in western Ukraine.
In a social media publish, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk mentioned he was in fixed communication with NATO Secretary Normal Mark Rutte and with the nation’s allies after Polish airspace was violated by a “enormous quantity” of Russian drones.
A NATO spokesperson echoed these remarks, saying on X that “quite a few drones entered Polish airspace in a single day and have been met with Polish and NATO air defences.”
The incident marks the primary time that Poland engaged belongings in its airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
It additionally comes because the European Union steps up its efforts to impose what can be the primary coordinated transatlantic measures in opposition to the Kremlin since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to workplace.
The Trump administration, for its half, has requested the EU to hit China and India with tariffs of as much as 100% over the nations’ Russian oil purchases, searching for to chop off a significant supply of revenues funding President Vladimir Putin’s warfare machine.
Some Polish airports, together with the capital’s fundamental worldwide airport, Warsaw Chopin, have been briefly closed because of army exercise. Warsaw Chopin and others have since been reopened.
Police walks previous a line of passengers ready for his or her delayed flights on the worldwide airport in Warsaw, on September 10, 2025, after the airport was closed because of Russian drones violated Polish airspace on Wednesday morning.
Wojtek Radwanski | Afp | Getty Photographs
Ukrainian International Minister Andrii Sybiha on Wednesday mentioned that Russian drones entered Polish airspace throughout what he described as a “large” assault on Ukraine. In a publish on X, he mentioned that Putin retains escalating and increasing his warfare, “and testing the West.”
The Ukrainian official known as for companions to “urgently strengthen” Ukraine’s air protection and mentioned sanctions “should be ramped up immediately.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned about eight Russian drones have been concerned within the incursion into Polish territory, calling the event “a particularly harmful precedent for Europe.”
A Kremlin spokesperson declined to touch upon Poland’s assertion that it had shot down Russian drones in its airspace, saying it was a matter for the protection ministry.
Requested concerning the drone assault and NATO and the European Union accusing Russia of provocation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned: “The management of EU and NATO accuse Russia of provocations every day. Usually with out even making an attempt to current any arguments.”
Earlier within the day, a Russian diplomat mentioned that Poland had not given any proof that the drones in query have been of Russian origin.
“We contemplate the accusations groundless,” Andrei Ordash, Russia’s cost d’affaires in Poland, informed Russia’s state-owned RIA information company.
“Russia is totally not considering any escalation with Poland, however, sadly, we can not rely on the Polish authorities listening to us of their anti-Russian frenzy,” Ordash mentioned.
In late 2022, a missile struck Polish territory within the village of Przewodów, close to the nation’s border with Ukraine, killing two folks. It was believed to have been fired by Ukrainian air protection forces to repel a Russian assault, whereas NATO on the mentioned time that Russian forces have been in the end accountable.
‘We want extra sanctions’
In a state of the union speech on Wednesday morning, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprecedented” incursion into Poland’s airspace and mentioned that Europe “stands in full solidarity” with Warsaw.
Her feedback prompted a standing ovation from European lawmakers.
“Putin’s message is evident. And our response should be clear too,” von der Leyen mentioned. “We want extra strain on Russia to return to the negotiating desk. We want extra sanctions. We are actually engaged on the nineteenth package deal in coordination with companions.”
EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen offers her annual State of the Union deal with throughout a plenary session on the European Parliament in Strasbourg, jap France, on September 10, 2025.
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Von der Leyen mentioned the 27-nation bloc was taking a look at phasing out Russian fossil fuels sooner, noting that the EU was additionally wanting on the nation’s “shadow fleet and at third nations,” in addition to at additional help for Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs have been among the many European leaders who expressed solidarity with Poland after the nation shot down Russian drones in its airspace.
Macron known as the incursion “merely unacceptable” and condemned it “within the strongest phrases.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, extensively thought to be Putin’s best European ally, mentioned “the violation of Poland’s territorial integrity is unacceptable.”
In a social media publish, Orban mentioned the jap European nation, which shares a border with Ukraine, helps the Trump administration’s efforts to attain peace within the Russia-Ukraine warfare.
