Is ‘Putin testing the West’ as Russia’s multiple drones violate Poland’s airspace?

The Russia-Ukraine war may have just intensified as Poland’s airspace was “repeatedly” violated by drones during a Russian attack on Ukraine. As a result, Warsaw scrambled its own and Nato air defences to shoot down drones over its territory with Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirming a military response operation was underway.

This is a significant development as it is the first time that a Nato country has directly engaged Russian assets in its airspace since the Ukraine war started in 2022.

What has happened so far? What does it mean for the war as Russian drones ‘strayed’ into Polish airspace? We decode the latest happenings.

Russia’s repeated airspace violations in Poland

On Wednesday, Poland’s military announced that the country’s airspace was “repeatedly” violated by drones during a Russian attack on Ukraine. The operational command of Poland’s armed forces wrote in a statement on social media, “During today’s attack by the Russian Federation aimed at targets in Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drones.”

“There was an unprecedented violation of Polish airspace,” it said, adding: “This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens.”

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It further added that operations were underway to “identify and neutralise’ some targets and to locate others that had been downed.

It is not yet clear how many drones entered Poland’s airspace. Ukrainian media reported that at least one drone was heading towards the western Polish city of Rzeszow. Meanwhile, local police in in the village of Czosnówka, in eastern Poland, reported a damaged drone.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that “an operation is underway related to the repeated violation of Polish airspace”. He also added that he was in “constant contact” with President Karol Nawrocki and the operational commander. Moreover, a government official added that Tusk would chair an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning.

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Later, Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the country was “in constant contact with Nato command.” “Territorial Defense Forces have been activated for ground searches of downed drones,” he added.

He also urged people to “remain calm” and said anyone who found fragments of military equipment should report it to authorities.

Earlier, Polish authorities closed Warsaw International Airport, the country’s largest, and the military said Polish and Nato aircraft have been scrambled as reports have surfaced of Russian drones over the country. However, at the time of publishing this report, news came in that the airport had reopened.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also showed three other airports were also shut due to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security.”

The Polish military has advised its people to stay at home. It said the biggest threat was in Poland’s eastern provinces, including Podlaskie, on the border with Belarus; the province of Masovia, which includes the capital, Warsaw; and Lublin, which borders both Belarus and Ukraine.

For Poland, the drone invasion’s timing is of significance. The attack came a day after Poland’s newly elected President Karol Nawrocki warned that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was ready to invade more countries after launching his war in Ukraine. “We do not trust Vladimir Putin’s good intentions,” Nawrocki told reporters Tuesday at a press conference in Helsinki.

“We believe that Vladimir Putin is ready to also invade other countries.”

Countries extend their support to Poland

Russia’s drone invasion in Poland comes as Moscow stages its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour more than three years ago. In recent days, Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have targeted residential areas in and around Kyiv. On Tuesday, 24 civilians were killed in a Russian strike on the village of Yarova in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said.

Last weekend, Russia deployed more than 800 drones in its largest attack to date, striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time.

However, the violation of Poland airspace has prompted some very harsh criticism of Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine said that the Russian leader was escalating his war and testing the West.

“Putin just keeps escalating, expanding his war, and testing the West. The longer he faces no strength in response, the more aggressive he gets,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on X. “A weak response now will provoke Russia even more — and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe,” he wrote, as Poland scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine.

Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign minister, also expressed support for Poland. In a post on X, Budrys says that air defences must be reinforced and that Nato must respond with capabilities “not just concerns”.

“The reality is clear: as long as Putin is allowed to continue waging his bloody war against Ukraine, no country — not even within Nato — is safe. Sanctions must strike at the heart of the Kremlin’s war economy. Putin will not stop unless we stop him,” he wrote.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Russia’s violations of Polish airspace was “unacceptable”. “The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine poses a threat to the security of all of Europe. Poland has every right to defend its airspace. We give our full support to Poland, as a Nato ally and EU member. Sweden and Poland stand united in our support for Ukraine,” he said.

Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also called Russia’s move “deeply concerning and entirely unacceptable” and extended its “steadfast support for our ally Poland and our shared commitment to European security”.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN he had been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland as he left a dinner with President Donald Trump.

Implications for the Russia-Ukraine war

But why is this such a big deal? What does it mean for the ongoing war in Ukraine?

With Poland downing Russian drones, this marks the first time that a Nato country has directly engaged Russian assets in its airspace. In fact, Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of Nato members — including Poland — several times during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, a Nato country hasn’t attempted to shoot them down in the past.

Many analysts note that Russia’s violation of Polish airspace could result in an escalation of the war. Former US deputy assistant secretary of defence Jim Townsend told the BBC that it’s hard to imagine the incursion of Russian drones into Poland is a mistake.

“One drone is a mistake, multiple drones is not a mistake. This is more than likely a test — this is a test that Nato has to answer… Now is the political side of Nato that is on the hot seat to make sure the response from the alliance is appropriate.”

Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army forces in Europe, was also quoted as telling Reuters that the number of incursions by Russian drones into Nato airspace “make it clear that these are intentional tests of Nato and national air defences and early warning systems”.

US Senator Dick Durban was also of the opinion that the repeated violations of Nato airspace by Russian drones were a sign that “Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”

“After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored,” he said on X.

With inputs from agencies