Poland Closes Airports, Engages Drones In Airspace During Russian Attack On Ukraine

Poland said it scrambled its own and NATO air defences to shoot down drones on Wednesday after a Russian air attack on western Ukraine, the first time in the Ukraine war that Warsaw has engaged assets in its airspace.

Poland's military command said Polish airspace was repeatedly violated by "drone-type objects" during the Russian attack across the border in Ukraine.

"An operation is underway aimed at identifying and neutralising these objects ... weapons have been used, and service personnel are carrying out actions to locate the downed objects," it said in a statement.

It said the military operation was ongoing and urged people to stay at home, naming the regions of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lublin as most at risk.

"The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces is monitoring the situation, and subordinate forces and units remain on full readiness for immediate response," it added.

Poland also closed four airports including its main Chopin Airport in Warsaw, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. There was no official confirmation from Polish authorities that any airports had been closed.

The Rzeszow–Jasionka Airport in Poland's southeast, a hub for passenger and arms transfers to Ukraine, was among the airports that had been temporarily closed, the FAA said.

Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said on Tuesday. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier, Ukraine's air force reported that Russian drones had entered NATO-member Poland's airspace, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but it subsequently removed that statement from the Telegram messaging app.

In the United States, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said 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.

Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people, a few months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But there have been no reports of Polish or allied defence systems destroying drones.

As of 0245 GMT, all of Ukraine, including western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, had been under air raid alerts for several hours, according to Ukraine's air force.

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