Polish forces shot down multiple drones that entered the country's airspace during a wave of Russian strikes on western Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday, calling the incursion "an act of aggression" and convening an emergency government meeting.
Poland's military command said radars tracked more than 10 objects and that those posing a threat were "neutralized." The statement said some of the drones that entered Polish airspace were shot down and that searches were under way to locate possible crash sites. Authorities urged residents to stay at home and named the Podlaskie, Mazowieckie and Lublin regions as most at risk.
Tusk said he was in "constant contact" with NATO leadership and ordered an extraordinary meeting of the council of ministers. Poland closed the airspace over Chopin Airport in Warsaw for several hours; airport officials said operations resumed later but warned of continued disruptions and delays.
Ukrainian air defenses also engaged large numbers of Russian drones and missiles over much of the country, including western regions near the Polish border that had been under near-continuous air-raid alerts. Ukrainian authorities initially reported Russian drones had entered Polish airspace and posed a threat to the city of Zamosc; that statement was later removed from the messaging app Telegram.
Poland's chief of the General Staff, General Wieslaw Kukula, met with government officials and emergency services, according to Reuters images of the gathering in Warsaw.
NATO had not issued an immediate public comment on the reported violations. U.S. officials and members of Congress were briefed on the situation, according to reporting from U.S. outlets. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the violations of Polish airspace showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was expanding the war and testing Western resolve. "The longer he faces no strength in response, the more aggressive he gets," Sybiha wrote on the social platform X. "A weak response now will provoke Russia even more — and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe."
Several U.S. lawmakers criticized the incursions. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones amounted to testing the alliance's resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic states. Representative Joe Wilson, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described the strikes as an "act of war" against a NATO ally and urged harsh U.S. sanctions in response.
Former President Donald Trump, who met with President Putin in August, said over the weekend he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctions on Russia following months of talks on a potential peace deal, his strongest indication yet that he may increase pressure on Moscow or its energy customers.
The strikes come as Russia and Belarus conduct large-scale military exercises known as Zapad, which have heightened security concerns in Poland and the Baltic states. Poland announced it would close its border with Belarus at midnight local time on Thursday because of the drills. Lithuania said it would strengthen border defenses with Belarus and Russia.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been several incidents of Russian drones entering the airspace of countries that border Ukraine, including Poland and Romania. Those earlier incursions were generally not engaged by Polish or NATO forces, with officials citing the risks of escalation and the physical danger posed by shooting down objects at altitude.
Polish authorities said searches continued for debris and possible crash sites. Local media and residents near the border reported loud noises consistent with military engagements. The scale of any damage inside Poland had not been confirmed by early Wednesday afternoon.
European Union and transatlantic officials have discussed coordinated measures against Russia; the EU's top sanctions official was in Washington this week to hold talks on potential coordinated steps. As investigations and diplomatic consultations proceed, NATO allies and neighboring states said they would monitor airspace and borders closely amid the heightened activity along the eastern flank.