Poland shoots down Russian drones, Ukraine says Putin testing the West

Poland’s military on Wednesday decried an “unprecedented violation” as the country’s airspace was breached by a number of Russian drones that were shot down.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Poland’s military said it scrambled its own and NATO air defenses to take down drones that entered its airspace amid a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine.

In a social media post, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was in constant communication with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and with the country’s allies after Polish airspace was violated by a “huge number” of Russian drones.

A NATO spokesperson echoed these remarks, saying on X that “numerous drones entered Polish airspace overnight and were met with Polish and NATO air defences.”

The incident marks the first time that Poland engaged assets in its airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

It also comes as the European Union steps up its efforts to impose what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against the Kremlin since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office.

The Trump administration, for its part, has asked the EU to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% over the countries’ Russian oil purchases, seeking to cut off a major source of revenues funding President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

Some Polish airports, including the capital’s main international airport, Warsaw Chopin, were temporarily closed due to military activity. Warsaw Chopin and others have since been reopened.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Wednesday said that Russian drones entered Polish airspace during what he described as a “massive” attack on Ukraine. In a post on X, he said that Putin keeps escalating and expanding his war, “and testing the West.”

The Ukrainian official called for partners to “urgently strengthen” Ukraine’s air defense and said sanctions “must be ramped up without delay.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about eight Russian drones were involved in the incursion into Polish territory, calling the development “an extremely dangerous precedent for Europe.”

Russia has not yet commented on the incident.

In late 2022, a missile struck Polish territory in the village of Przewodów, near the country’s border with Ukraine, killing two people. It was believed to have been fired by Ukrainian air defense forces to repel a Russian attack, while NATO at the said time that Russian forces were ultimately to blame.

In a state of the union speech on Wednesday morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprecedented” incursion into Poland’s airspace and said that Europe “stands in full solidarity” with Warsaw.

Her comments prompted a standing ovation from European lawmakers.

“Putin’s message is clear. And our response must be clear too,” von der Leyen said. “We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table. We need more sanctions. We are now working on the 19th package in coordination with partners.”

Von der Leyen said the 27-nation bloc was looking at phasing out Russian fossil fuels faster, noting that the EU was also looking at the country’s “shadow fleet and at third countries,” as well as at further support for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs were among the European leaders who expressed solidarity with Poland after the country shot down Russian drones in its airspace.

Macron called the incursion “simply unacceptable” and condemned it “in the strongest terms.”