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US calls Russia’s Polish airspace violations ‘alarming’
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Nato has announced plans to beef up the defence of Europe’s eastern flank as the US has vowed to defend “every inch” of its ally after Russian drones breached Polish airspace earlier this week.
The US joined other Nato countries yesterday to express concern about Russian drones entering Poland, accusing Moscow of violating international law and the founding UN Charter.
At the UN, the US called the Polish airspace violations “alarming” and vowed to defend “every inch” of Nato territory.
The mission will involve a range of assets integrating air and ground bases along Nato’s eastern flank, which stretches from the Baltic states in the north to Romania and Bulgaria in the south.
Polish air defences and Nato aircraft sprung into action on Wednesday after 19 objects intruded Polish airspace. There have been no injury reports and Moscow has so far denied responsibility for the incident.
Donald Trump has said that his patience with Vladimir Putin is “running out fast”, days after Russian drones breached Polish airspace in an act of provocation.
His comments come after Poland‘s prime minister Donald Tusk on Friday rejected Trump’s claim that Russian drones breaching Polish airspace might have been “a mistake”.
Prince Harry met with Ukraine’s prime minister during his surprise visit to the country this week.
Yulia Svyrydenkon shared pictures of the meeting as she and the Duke of Sussex visited damaged premises of the Ukrainian government building in Kyiv.
An early morning Russian attack killed three people on Friday in northern Ukraine’s Sumy region, a regional official reported.
Sumy Regional Governor Oleh Hryhory said a 6 am drone and missile attack killed three residents in or near Sumy and injured five.
But Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian operation in the region “has been completely foiled by our forces.”
Russian forces have tried in recent months to gain a foothold in areas like Sumy, a border region next to Russia’s Kursk region.
They have captured a string of villages near the border and subject larger towns, like the city of Sumy, to frequent shelling.
Zelenskiy has reported successes in other operations in Sumy in recent weeks. He said Kyiv’s forces were also actively repelling Russian troops in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, the two main areas on the front line.
The Duke of Sussex has said there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as he visited ex-service personnel during a surprise trip to Ukraine.
Harry travelled to Kyiv with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation following an invitation from the Ukrainian government and Olga Rudneva, chief executive of the Superhumans Centre, an orthopaedic clinic and rehabilitation centre for adults and children affected by the war in Ukraine.
His trip comes after spending several days in the UK, where he reunited with his father the King for their first face-to-face meeting for more than a year.
Asked about advice for those leaving military service and who may miss the camaraderie, Harry said: “You will feel lost at times, like you lack purpose, but however dark those days are, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
A number of Nato allies have agreed to join a new mission to beef up the defence of Europe’s eastern flank.
A new deterrence initiative called “Eastern Sentry” is to be launched in response to Russia’s drone attack.
Nato’s top military official, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich, a US Air Force general, said it was a flexible operation to bolster defences along Nato’s entire eastern flank, which stretches from the Baltic states in the north to Romania and Bulgaria in the south.
The mission, which began on Friday evening, will involve a range of assets integrating air and ground bases.
Nato already has substantial forces in eastern Europe, including thousands of troops and it did not specify how many additional troops would be involved in the new operation.
Allies including Denmark, France, Britain, and Germany have committed to the mission with others set to join.
The announcement detailed a modest number of additional military assets – including two F-16 fighter jets and a frigate from Denmark, three Rafale fighter jets from France, and four Eurofighter jets from Germany.
Spain said it would provide air assets and Britain said it would detail its contribution soon.
After announcing the beefing up of Nato’s eastern flank, the military alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said the focus of the immediate new operation is Poland as “what affects one Ally affects us all”.
He said the situation in Poland due to Russia’s drone incursions two days ago “transcends the borders of one nation”.
The alliance’s chief said the aim of the operation is to integrate air and ground-based defences, increase information sharing among Nato allies, incorporate unspecified enhanced capabilities, and strengthen Nato’s posturing to protect the alliance.
Russian and Belarusian troops began a major joint military exercise yesterday for the first time since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The joint exercises are set to occur in Russia and Belarus, including Belarus’ Vitebsk, Minsk, and Grodno oblasts, and in the Baltic and Barents seas from 12 to 16 September.
The Zapad 2025 exercises consist of two stages, with the first consisting of air and ground defence operations, and the second including exercises to clear the territory of enemy forces and conducting counteroffensive operations, according to Belarusian Chief of the General Staff Pavel Muraveiko.
Both countries have carried out these joint exercises biannually, but cancelled the Zapad 2023 drills, likely due to Russia’s equipment and manpower requirements for its war in Ukraine.
The latest joint exercise also appears to be notably much smaller than the 2021 drills, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Nato said yesterday it would strengthen the defence of Europe’s eastern flank following Russia’s airspace violations over Poland.
Nato’s announcement comes two days after Warsaw shot down Russian drones making an incursion over its airspace.
It said a new deterrence initiative called “Eastern Sentry” would be launched in response to Russia’s drone attack.
“Eastern Sentry will add flexibility and strength to our posture and make clear that, as a defensive alliance, we are always ready to defend,” the military alliance’s secretary general Mark Rutte said.
At the UN, the US called Russia’s drone incursions over Polish airspace “alarming” and vowed to defend every inch of Nato territory.
Russia’s offensive in Sumy Oblast has been “completely thwarted”, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
“As of today, we can state that the Russian offensive operation on Sumy has been completely thwarted by our forces,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address.
“Fighting continues in the border areas of Sumy Oblast, but the Russian group in the Sumy area has lost offensive capabilities due to the losses suffered,” he said.
The region has been a key target for Moscow’s troops since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022 due to its location on the northeastern frontier, and faces near-daily strikes.
However, Kyiv says it has maintained control over most of the region.
The US told the UN Security Council on Friday that it would defend “every inch of NATO territory” after Russian drones breached Polish airspace earlier this week.
“The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations,” said Dorothy Shea, the US acting ambassador to UN.
Ms Shea’s remarks come after US president Donald Trump said the Russian drone incursion into Poland “could’ve been a mistake”, a claim refuted by Poland.
“These actions, now with the addition of violating the airspace of a U.S. ally – intentionally or otherwise – show immense disrespect for good-faith US efforts to bring an end to this conflict,” the acting ambassador said.
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