Poland’s air defences were tested on Wednesday, September 10, when 19 objects, including drones, entered Polish airspace for approximately six hours during a large-scale Russian missile and drone strike against Ukraine.
The Polish Air Force deployed F-16 and F-35 jets, shooting down four, while the remaining fifteen fell on Polish soil. No injuries have been reported.
Polish President Donald Tusk called the attack a “large-scale provocation” by Russia. The Kremlin has so far denied responsibility, an assertion supplemented by the Belarusian Ministry of Defence, insisting the drones “just lost their way.”
With Wednesday’s latest escalation, NATO’s Article 4 consultations went into effect, enabling Poland to hold urgent talks due to their territorial integrity being infringed upon. Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz characterized the attack as “an attempt to weaken NATO’s and Poland’s willingness to support Ukraine.”
A UN Security Council session convened for an emergency briefing on September 12 in New York to discuss the incident and the regional spillover effects of the war in Ukraine.
In addition to Friday’s UN talks, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, and France have all vowed to increase their engagement along NATO’s eastern flank to support the “Eastern Sentry,” a new military activity intended to bolster the alliance’s defences. While the alliance’s immediate focus lies in Poland, the Sentry’s defences are slated to expand from the Arctic in the north to the Black Sea and Mediterranean in the south.
French President Emmanuel Macron has already deployed three Rafale fighter jets to help protect Polish airspace, writing: “we will not give into Russia’s increasing intimidation.”
Also by the French President’s side is British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who, on September 15, announced the beginning of Royal Air Force jets flying air defence missions over Poland, saying the UK will “continue to stand firm in our support for Ukraine and ramp up pressure on Putin until there is a just and lasting peace.”
This is not the first time Russian drones and missiles have entered NATO airspace since the war’s outbreak in 2022. However, onlookers regard Wednesday’s incursion as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most significant violation of NATO airspace.
In response, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried called for the West to “push back and not just with words,” in an analysis released by the Atlantic Council.
The strike was the latest incident in a series of heightened Russian hostilities throughout the region. On the morning of September 8, the Kremlin launched its largest air assault to date, hitting Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv and leaving little indication of Putin’s territorial ambitions being reined in anytime soon.
In a joint Friday press conference between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus G. Grynkewich said: “We must, as NATO, make clear our resolve and our ability to defend our territory.”
Featured image credit: Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
