A Polish air power F-16 is flanked on both facet by Dassault Rafale fighter jets as they carry out a flyover throughout the National Army Day navy parade in Warsaw, Poland, on August 15, 2025.
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Poland’s navy on Wednesday decried an “unprecedented violation” as the nation’s airspace was breached by numerous Russian drones that have been shot down.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Poland’s navy mentioned it scrambled its personal and NATO air defenses to take down drones that entered its airspace amid a widespread Russian assault in western Ukraine.
In a social media put up, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was in fixed communication with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and with the nation’s allies after Polish airspace was violated by a “huge number” of Russian drones.
A NATO spokesperson echoed these remarks, saying on X that “numerous drones entered Polish airspace overnight and were met with Polish and NATO air defences.”
The incident marks the first time that Poland engaged property in its airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
It additionally comes as the European Union steps up its efforts to impose what can be the first coordinated transatlantic measures towards the Kremlin since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to workplace.
The Trump administration, for its half, has asked the EU to hit China and India with tariffs of as much as 100% over the nations’ Russian oil purchases, in search of to chop off a significant supply of revenues funding President Vladimir Putin’s warfare machine.
Some Polish airports, together with the capital’s principal worldwide airport, Warsaw Chopin, have been quickly closed because of navy exercise. Warsaw Chopin and others have since been reopened.
Police walks previous a line of passengers ready for his or her delayed flights at the worldwide airport in Warsaw, on September 10, 2025, after the airport was closed because of Russian drones violated Polish airspace on Wednesday morning.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Wednesday said that Russian drones entered Polish airspace throughout what he described as a “massive” assault on Ukraine. In a put up on X, he mentioned that Putin retains escalating and increasing his warfare, “and testing the West.”
The Ukrainian official referred to as for companions to “urgently strengthen” Ukraine’s air protection and mentioned sanctions “must be ramped up without delay.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about eight Russian drones have been concerned in the incursion into Polish territory, calling the improvement “an extremely dangerous precedent for Europe.”
A Russian diplomat mentioned that Poland had not given any proof that the drones in query have been of Russian origin.
“We consider the accusations groundless,” Andrei Ordash, Russia’s cost d’affaires in Poland, told Russia’s state-owned RIA information company.
“Russia is absolutely not interested in any escalation with Poland, but, unfortunately, we cannot count on the Polish authorities listening to us in their anti-Russian frenzy,” Ordash mentioned.
In late 2022, a missile struck Polish territory in the village of Przewodów, close to the nation’s border with Ukraine, killing two folks. It was believed to have been fired by Ukrainian air protection forces to repel a Russian assault, whereas NATO at the mentioned time that Russian forces have been in the end accountable.
‘We want extra sanctions’
In a state of the union speech on Wednesday morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprecedented” incursion into Poland’s airspace and mentioned that Europe “stands in full solidarity” with Warsaw.
Her feedback prompted a standing ovation from European lawmakers.
“Putin’s message is clear. And our response must be clear too,” von der Leyen mentioned. “We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table. We need more sanctions. We are now working on the 19th package in coordination with partners.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen provides her annual State of the Union deal with throughout a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, japanese France, on September 10, 2025.
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Von der Leyen mentioned the 27-nation bloc was taking a look at phasing out Russian fossil fuels quicker, noting that the EU was additionally taking a look at the nation’s “shadow fleet and at third countries,” in addition to at additional help for Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs have been amongst the European leaders who expressed solidarity with Poland after the nation shot down Russian drones in its airspace.
Macron referred to as the incursion “simply unacceptable” and condemned it “in the strongest terms.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, broadly considered Putin’s best European ally, said “the violation of Poland’s territorial integrity is unacceptable.”
In a social media put up, Orban mentioned the japanese European nation, which shares a border with Ukraine, helps the Trump administration’s efforts to realize peace in the Russia-Ukraine warfare.