{"id":163857,"date":"2025-09-10T10:09:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/poland-closest-to-conflict-since-wwii-after-russian-drone-incident-ukraine-live-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:09:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:09:02","slug":"poland-closest-to-conflict-since-wwii-after-russian-drone-incident-ukraine-live-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/poland-closest-to-conflict-since-wwii-after-russian-drone-incident-ukraine-live-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland \u2018closest to conflict since WWII\u2019 after Russian drone incident: Ukraine live – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in<\/span>Please refresh your browser to be logged in<\/span>
Next article
Poland’s PM Tusk says \u2018huge number\u2019 of drones entered Polish airspace during major attack on western Ukraine
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
<\/a>Russia aimed a \u201chuge number\u201d of drones <\/a>at Poland<\/a> overnight in a major escalation, prime minister Donald Tusk<\/a> said.
Polish air defences and Nato aircraft sprung into action to down the drones, which had entered its airspace during a large attack on western Ukraine.
Mr Tusk held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning after saying Poland\u2019s airspace was \u201cviolated by a huge number of Russian drones\u201d.
There is \u201cincreasing evidence\u201d that Poland was deliberately targeted by Russian drones, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed, after Warsaw condemned the \u201cact of aggression\u201d.
But the Nato military alliance is not currently treating the incursion of drones as an attack on one of its members, a source told Reuters<\/em>.
Reports in Poland suggested that a residential building in Wyryki, eastern Poland, was hit – but there were no reports of any injuries.
Operations at airports in Warsaw, Modlin and Rzeszow – which were all closed after the attack – have been reopened. The airport in Lublin remains temporarily closed.
Warsaw is in close contact with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, Mr Tusk confirmed, after the Polish government held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning.
Polish president Karol Nawrocki decided to call a meeting of the National Security Council within 48 hours as Poland shot down Russian drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine.
“…news that we will have full information about what happened in Poland within 48 hours led me to the decision to convene the National Security Council within 48 hours,” Karol Nawrocki said adding the situation was unprecedented moment in Nato’s and Poland’s history.
We\u2019re getting reaction from across Europe, as countries rally to Poland\u2019s support following the incursion of a number of Russian drones into its territory.
The EU Council\u2019s president Antonio Costa said the blog stands in full solidarity with Poland, adding that the \u201csecurity of one is the security of all\u201d.
Czech prime minister Petr Fiala echoed these words, adding: \u201cPutin\u2019s regime threatens all of Europe and systematically probes how far it can go. It is reassuring that Poland\u2019s air defence systems responded effectively.\u201d
The incursion is \u201csimply unacceptable\u201d, French president Emmanuel Macron said on X, as he condemned it in the \u201cstrongest possible terms\u201d.
The EU\u2019s top diplomat Kaja Kallas condemned the \u201cmost serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began\u201d and said that \u201cindications suggest it was intentional, not accidental\u201d.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasised his belief that Poland was deliberately targeted during a Russian drone attack overnight.
“Increasing evidence indicates that this movement, this direction of strike, was no accident,” he wrote on X.
“Ukraine is also ready to help Poland build an effective system of warning and protection against such Russian threats.”
Nato is not treating the incursion as a direct attack on one of its members, a source in the military alliance told Reuters.
Poland\u2019s \u201crelatively lame\u201d response to previous incidents of Russian drones entering its airspace likely encouraged Russia to divert some drones to Polish airspace, a military analyst has told The Independent<\/em>.
There have been multiple reports of Russian drones violating Polish airspace in the past week, drawing condemnation from Warsaw, but no fierce military response.
\u201cThis has likely encouraged the Russians to continue taking advantage of the situation, as flying through Polish airspace helps Russians to avoid Ukrainian air defences,\u201d said Emil Kastehelmi, military analyst at the Finland-based Black Bird Group.
Despite claims that Ukrainian electronic warfare could be the reason behind drones straying from their route, Mr Kastehelmi believes \u201cat least some level of usage of the Polish airspace has been intentional\u201d.
He added: \u201cEven if it was unintentional, it is still a serious example of Russia’s indifference to whether its military operations affect third parties as they conduct strikes in western Ukraine.\u201d
The Nato military alliance is not treating the drone incursion into Polish territory as an attack, a Nato source has told Reuters.
Initial indications suggested an intentional incursion of six to ten Russian drones.
“It was the first time Nato aircraft have engaged potential threats allied airspace,” the source said, adding Nato’s Patriot air defence systems in the region had detected the drones with their radars but not engaged them.
Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35, Italian AWACS surveillance planes and mid-air refueling aircraft jointly operated by Nato were involved in the overnight operation, according to the source.
Poland has called an emergency Nato council meeting after shooting down at least eight Russian drones that entered its airspace in the most dangerous test of the alliance\u2019s resolve in decades.
In calling for the council meeting, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, who said he was in \u201cconstant contact\u201d with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, was bringing the alliance together to discuss its Article Five – the obligation to defend a member with war.
The move will further test Donald Trump\u2019s loyalty to the West\u2019s most important strategic alliance. He has spent the last seven months in office backing Russia against America\u2019s allies and himself threatened to invade or annex Nato members Canada and Denmark.
The Independent\u2019s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:<\/em><\/strong>
Poland\u2019s prime minister Donald Tusk is chairing an emergency meeting with leading figures in the government and military.
He says Poland is ready to react to any attacks and provocations by the Russian military.
The violation of Poland\u2019s airspace was likely a large-scale provocation, he added.
Drone components have been found near a cemetery in the town of Czesniki, south-eastern Poland, Polish local prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
No one was injured in the attack according to the findings so far, the office added.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said Russia fired a \u201chuge number\u201d of drones into Polish airspace overnight.
\u201cLast night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,\u201d he wrote on X.
He added that he is in \u201cconstant communication\u201d with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in<\/span>Please refresh your browser to be logged in<\/span><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inNext articlePoland’s PM Tusk says \u2018huge number\u2019 of drones entered Polish airspace during major attack on western UkraineFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}