Poland convenes urgent Nato talks after ‘provocative’ Russian drone barrage enters its airspace

Warsaw scrambles defences during Moscow's widespread attack on western Ukraine

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk leads the response to violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack in Warsaw. Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that he had invoked Nato's Article 4 for urgent talks after Russian drones violated the country’s airspace in a widespread overnight barrage.

Multiple Russian drones entered Polish territory and were shot down with help from Nato allies, with its armed forces describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.

Mr Tusk said Poland was in the closest situation to armed conflict since the Second World War and needed more support from allies.

He said the first signals from other Nato members showed they understood the seriousness of the situation.

“Allied consultations … have now taken the form of a formal request to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty,” Mr Tusk told parliament.

Poland summoned Russia's top diplomat in the country, Russian state media reported.

Poland's airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones, and those that posed a direct threat were shot down, Mr Tusk said. There were 19 intrusions into Polish airspace with some drones entering from Belarus, he said. The shooting down of three drones was confirmed, with a fourth probably shot down, he added.

Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.

Earlier, Mr Tusk said Poland was ready to react to any attacks or provocations.

“We are dealing with a large-scale provocation … we are ready to repel such provocations. The situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios,” he said after Warsaw was forced to scramble air defences.

“Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under Nato provided support to the Polish air force.

“Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Mr Shoof said in a Dutch language message.

Col Martin O’Donnell of Nato's Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time Nato planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”

German Patriot defence systems in Poland were also placed on alert, and an Italian airborne early warning plane as well as an aerial refuelling plane from Nato’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, he said.

The alliance, he said, was “committed to defending every kilometre of Nato territory, including our airspace”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that eight Russian drones were “aimed towards” Poland in a widespread overnight barrage.

“It was not just one Shahed that could be called an accident, but at least eight strike drones aimed towards Poland,” Mr Zelenskyy said, referring to Iranian-designed drones used by Moscow. He said the incident represented “an extremely dangerous precedent for Europe”.

Passengers check their delayed flights on monitors at the international airport in Warsaw after the airport was closed due to Russian drones violating Polish airspace on Wednesday morning. AFP

He 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.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that violations of Polish airspace by Russian drones were “simply unacceptable” and urged Moscow to stop its “reckless behaviour”.

Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and Nato was discussing the incident. It came three days after Russia's largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.

Leaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia – the Nato members that are most nervous about Russian aggression – expressed deep concern.

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

Polish defence minister Kosiniak Kamysz had been due to attend a meeting of defence ministers in the UK, but flew home early on Wednesday morning to deal with the attack.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the “barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and Nato airspace” by Russian drones was “deeply concerning”.

Gen Wieslaw Kukula of the Polish Armed Forces, right, and chief of police Marek Boron in Warsaw for an extraordinary government meeting following Russia's violation of Polish airspace. Reuters

Europe is 'fighting'

In her annual state of the union speech in front of the European Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to counter Russia's “drone warfare” with a €6 billion ($7 billion) loan and enter a “drone alliance with Ukraine”.

“We can help transform Ukrainian ingenuity into battlefield advantage – and into joint industrialisation,” Ms von der Leyen said. “Ukraine’s freedom is Europe’s freedom.”

Ms von der Leyen called on Europe to continue pressuring Russia to stop its war on Ukraine. “The images in Alaska were not easy to digest,” she said, referring to a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pointing at Russia's escalating warfare in Ukraine, Ms von der Leyen said Russia was not meaningfully engaged in diplomacy.

“Europe is in a fight for a free and independent Europe,” Ms von der Leyen said. “A fight for our values and our democracies. A fight for our liberty and our ability to determine our destiny for ourselves. Make no mistake – this is a fight for our future.”

Ms von der Leyen called on the EU to urgently work on a “new solution” to make Russia pay for the war with immobilised assets in Europe. She did not mention any amounts.

The G7 countries have already agreed on support of $50 billion to Ukraine that will be paid back from the windfall profits generated by the roughly $300 billion in Russian assets frozen in G7 countries.

“With the cash balances associated to these Russian assets, we can provide Ukraine with a reparations loan. The assets themselves will not be touched. And the risk will have to be carried collectively,” Ms von der Leyen said.

Search continuing

The Polish armed forces said on Wednesday morning that a search for crash sites was continuing. It urged people not to approach, touch or move any related objects, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.

The incident came a day after Poland's recently elected nationalist President Karol Nawrocki warned that Mr Putin was ready to invade more countries after launching his war in Ukraine.

“We do not trust Vladimir Putin's good intentions,” Mr Nawrocki said on Tuesday at a press conference in Helsinki

“We believe that Vladimir Putin is ready to also invade other countries.”

Ukrainian firefighters work near homes hit during Russian drone strikes in the north-western Zhytomyr region. Reuters

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X: “Russian drones flying into Poland during the massive attack on Ukraine show that Putin's sense of impunity keeps growing because he was not properly punished for his previous crimes.

“Putin just keeps escalating, expanding his war, and testing the West,” Mr Sybiha said. “The longer he faces no strength in response, the more aggressive he gets.”

“A weak response now will provoke Russia even more – and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe,” he added.

Ukraine strikes

The incursion into Polish airspace came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western city of Lviv, around 50 miles (80km) from the Polish border.

The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched 415 drones and 43 missiles in the attack that Ukrainian officials said left at least one dead. Air defence units downed 386 drones and 27 missiles, the air force added.

The operational command of Poland's military slammed the “unprecedented” airspace violations, saying it had spotted around a dozen drone-type objects, some of which were downed.

“This is an act of aggression that has created a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” it said.

Nato airspace

Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of Nato members – including Poland – several times during Russia's three-and-a-half-year war, but a Nato country has never previously attempted to shoot them down.

In August, Poland’s Defence Minister said a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.

In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through its air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was probably fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.