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Poland attack on Russia: Poland scrambled its own and NATO air defences to shoot down Russian drones Wednesday — marking the first tim e Warsaw has engaged assets in its airspace since the war began, an act the army branded as “aggression” and U.S. lawmakers warned could amount to an “act of war,” Reuters reported.
According to the Poland’s military command, Polish airspace was repeatedly violated by “drone-type objects” during the Russian attack across the border in Ukraine. “Some of the drones that entered our airspace were shot down. Efforts are underway to search for and locate the possible crash sites of these objects,” Poland’s Operational Command said in a statement on X.
“To ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces has activated all necessary procedures. Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” the statement said.
Military operations were ongoing across — Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lublin– as most at risk and urged people to stay at home, the statement added further.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called an emergency security meeting with top ministers early Wednesday morning. A special session of the Council of Ministers was also scheduled for 8 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT). Poland’s military said its radars picked up more than 10 objects violating its airspace. The ones that looked dangerous were “neutralised.” The army called the incident an “act of aggression,” and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that Polish aircraft had “used weapons against hostile objects.” He also said Poland is in constant touch with NATO command.
In the US, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Putin was “testing NATO’s resolve.” Republican Joe Wilson labelled it as an “act of war.” Wilson has urged President Donald Trump to respond with heavy sanctions, “that will bankrupt the Russian war machine”. “Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory,” he said.
Following the attack, Poland closed down four airports including its main Chopin Airport in Warsaw, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. The Rzeszow–Jasionka Airport in Poland’s southeast, a hub for passenger and arms transfers to Ukraine, was among the airports that had been temporarily closed, the FAA said.
Ukraine’s air force had earlier reported that Russian drones entered the airspace of NATO-member Poland, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but later deleted the statement from Telegram messaging app.
Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people, a few months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But there have been no reports of Polish or allied defence systems destroying drones.
All of Ukraine, including western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, had been under air raid alerts for several hours, according to Ukraine’s air force.
–With inputs from Reuters
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