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Poland’s PM Tusk says ‘huge number’ of drones entered Polish airspace during major attack on western Ukraine
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The United Nations (UN) Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting after Russian drones entered Polish air space.
Representatives from member countries will meet at Poland’s request to discuss the unprecedented incursion into Nato territory, which took place on Wednesday morning.
US President Donald Trump reacted by taking to Truth Social, writing: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”
Polish air defences and Nato aircraft sprung into action on Wednesday after 19 objects intruded Polish airspace including drones entering from Belarus, said prime minister Donald Tusk. There have been no injury reports and Moscow has so far denied responsibility for the incident.
Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki spoke to Trump among other Nato allies in talks that “confirmed unity,” he said. As European and Nato countries rally to Poland’s defence, the US has vowed that it will help defend Nato territory following the incursion.
The US would defend “every inch of Nato territory”, Washington’s ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker said.
Prime minister Donald Tusk activated Article 4 of the Nato treaty, demanding discussion with its member states, as he said Poland was closer to conflict than it had ever been since the Second World War.
Poland’s foreign minister has told local radio the country is “drawing the world’s attention” to the “unprecedented” violation of Polish airspace by calling for a UN Security Council meeting.
“(We are) drawing the world’s attention to this unprecedented Russian drone attack on a member of the UN, EU, and NATO,” Radoslaw Sikorski said.
“I have appeared before the UN (Security) Council in the past, and it seems to me that our arguments have been convincing.”
Poland introduced restrictions to air traffic along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine, the Armed Forces’ Operational Command said on Thursday, amid increased tensions a day after multiple drone incursions into the NATO member’s airspace.
“At the request of the Operational Command of the Branches of the Armed Forces … air traffic restrictions will be introduced in the eastern part of Poland in the form of the restricted zone EP R129”, Polish Air Navigation Agency said in a statement published late on Wednesday.
The restrictions came into force at 2200 GMT on Wednesday and apply until December 9, it said.
From sunrise to sunset flights in the restricted zone are banned, apart from manned aircraft operating in accordance with a flight plan with appropriate transponders and maintaining two-way communication with air authorities, the agency said.
The restrictions also make exception for military flights and some additional special-purpose flights and call signs.
“From sunset to sunrise there is a total ban on flights, with the exception of military aircraft… In the EP R129 zone, there is a 24-hour flight ban on civilian unmanned aircraft, the agency said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine, but it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland.
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian legislators said on Thursday they have asked the US Congress to reconsider planned military support cuts under the Baltic Security Initiative programme.
The White House confirmed earlier this week it would look to slash the $220 million programme, which provides defence funding to the countries.
But lawmakers in the US have blasted the move, accusing Trump of “turning his back on our longstanding NATO allies” and “stripping them of the resources needed to counter increasing Russian aggression”.
In a joint letter on Thursday, the three parliaments wrote: “We kindly ask you to support the funding of the Baltic Security Initiative in the fiscal year 2026 Defence Appropriations Bill and its authorisation in the National Defence Appropriation Act.”
A couple whose house was destroyed after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace on Wednesday have said they were scared they were “being bombed” when the incident happened.
Tomasz and Alicja Wesolowski said they ran outside and saw a plane overhead after their house was struck.
“I turned on the TV, and all the news was about this massive drone flight, and after a while, I heard a plane flying over… and suddenly something boomed, the light fell from the ceiling in the downstairs living room,” Mr Wesolowski told Reuters in the eastern Polish village of Wyryki-Wola.
“I ran out into the yard, and I saw the whole roof in shreds, everything was destroyed.”
At Poland’s request, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to address Russia’s violation of Polish airspace, the Polish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
It comes after Poland shot down a number of Russian drones flying over its airspace on Wednesday.
The UK will mass produce cutting-edge interceptor drones to help Ukraine fight off Russian aerial attacks.
The drones, designed by Ukraine with support from UK scientists and technicians, are highly effective in destroying the one-way attack aircraft Moscow continues to launch at Ukrainian cities, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
It comes after Russian drones violating Polish airspace during overnight attacks on Ukraine were shot down by Poland and Nato.
Defence Secretary John Healey will detail the project, the first under a technology-sharing deal with Kyiv, at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade show in London on Thursday.
Read more:
After Russia’s incursion into Poland with several drones, Nato’s air defences did not work “as well as it should have”, German chancellor Friedrich Merz has said.
The incursion overnight on Wednesday was a deliberate provocation on Wednesday, he said – the latest in a series of provocations recorded in the last months.
“First of all, I would like to note that European air defence, Nato air defence, worked, but of course not as well as it should have in order to prevent such a large number of drones from entering Polish airspace early enough,” Mr Merz said.
“We are and will remain determined to significantly increase the defence readiness and defence capabilities of the European part of Nato,” he added.
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian legislators have asked the US Congress to uphold military support under the Baltic Security Initiative program, which the White House is due to propose to cut, Lithuania’s opposition Homeland Union party said on Thursday.
It comes as fears grow over the growing threat of Russian aggression, following the incursion of a number of drones into Polish territory overnight into Wednesday.
Russia’s Belgorod region has ordered children to stay at home and closed shopping malls due to a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack, the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said this morning.
Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drone attacks since the February 2022 invasion by Moscow.
It is not immediately clear how many drones have targeted Belgorod.
Poland has accused Russia of sending several drones into its territory, with prime minister Donald Tusk saying the country is the closest it has been to armed conflict since the Second World War.
Polish air defences shot down at least three drones, marking the first time a Nato member has directly engaged Russia since the beginning of its war in Ukraine.
Local authorities in Wyryki, eastern Poland, said a drone or similar object had struck a residential building, but nobody was injured. Debris was also found in the nearby town of Wyhalew.
Police in the village of Czosnowka, in Poland’s eastern Lublin region, said they had found a damaged drone, while the District Prosecutor’s Office in Zamosc, also in Lublin, said drone components had been discovered near a cemetery in the town of Czesniki.
In the central Lodz region, a drone was found in a field near the village of Mniszkow, Reuters reported. Debris was also found in Olesno, 400km from the Ukrainian border.
Alex Croft reports:
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