Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace
during strikes on Ukraine
[September 10, 2025]
By CLAUDIA CIOBANU and ILLIA NOVIKOV
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian
drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO
allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out
during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally
escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting.
It came three days after Russia's largest aerial attack on Ukraine since
the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government
building in Kyiv.
“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy
chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious
European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and
indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish
airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that
posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10
objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact
number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and
Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.
Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia's
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on
this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the
eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.
Drones rattle Baltic NATO members
Leaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia
and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian
aggression — expressed deep concerns.
“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing
threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X.
Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight
attacks on Ukriane and violations of Polish airspace were "yet another
stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all
of Europe and NATO.”
Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told
TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t
know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.
The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for
possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch
or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and
could contain hazardous material.
Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the
closure of airspace due to military operations.
Russian objects have entered Polish airspace before
Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during
attacks on Ukraine before.
In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that
crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as
a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.
In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed
through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and
in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a
Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.
NATO members vow support
NATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson
Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will
discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.
Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This
is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied
airspace."
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Firefighters secure parts of a damaged UAV shot down by Polish
authorities, at a site in Czosnówka near Biala Podlaska, Poland,
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Piotr Pyrkosz)
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that
Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided
support to the Polish air force overnight.
“Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by
Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian
war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Shoof said
in the Dutch language message on X.
German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on
alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial
refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport
aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.
NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO
territory, including our airspace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on
Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the
drones was an “important precedent.”
Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and
strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine
Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones,
as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27
cruise missiles, according to the report.
“At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the
direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.
Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western
Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early
Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas
station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses
were blown out.
One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight,
regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram,
while homes and businesses suffered damage.
In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial
infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna.
Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was
injured.
In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in
a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a
barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on
Telegram.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday
that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian
regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and
areas of the Black Sea.
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Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in
Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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