Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that a violation of Polish airspace by several Russian drones overnight—starting Tuesday, September 9th—was a major provocation aimed at his country, a European Union and NATO member. Denouncing the “large-scale provocation,” he stated
Last night we experienced a violation of Polish airspace by a significant number of Russian drones.
Tusk’s concerns were echoed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said “Just today, we have seen a reckless and unprecedented violation of Polish and European airspace by more than 10 Russian Shahid drones.” Europe will defend “every inch” of its soil, she added, urging investments in strategic capabilities to boost its “eastern flank” faced with the threat from Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas took to X, formerly Twitter, to state that
Last night in Poland we saw the most serious violation of European airspace by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.
NATO air defences helped counter the drones that entered Polish airspace overnight. Alliance chief Mark Rutte is in regular contact with Warsaw, according to a NATO spokeswoman, who also emphasized that NATO ambassadors will meet and “discuss how NATO should respond to the drones that entered Poland overnight.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed for a common air defence system with Kyiv’s European allies, as he accused Russia of “deliberately targeting” neighbouring Poland by flying drones through its airspace in an overnight attack. He added that the incident represented “an extremely dangerous precedent for Europe.”
Under-pressure French president Emmanuel Macron also condemned the incident. He stated that violations of Polish airspace by Russian drones were “simply unacceptable” and urged Moscow to stop its “reckless behaviour.”
