NATO member Poland shoots down drones in its airspace during Russia’s Ukraine attack

 Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine on Wednesday, with the NATO member calling the incursion "an act of aggression" and marking the first time a member of the alliance has fired shots in the war. 

Poland's airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones, and those that posed a direct threat were shot down, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.  A NATO spokesperson said NATO chief Mark Rutte was in touch with Polish leadership and the alliance was consulting closely with Poland. 

Poland's military command said drones repeatedly violated Polish airspace during the Russian attack across the border, in western Ukraine, but that operations against these violations had now concluded.

Radars tracked more than 10 objects and those that could pose a threat were "neutralised," the command said.

""Searches and efforts to locate the potential crash sites of these objects are ongoing," it said in a statement. The command thanked NATO air command and the F-35 fighters of the Dutch air force for assistance.

It urged people to stay at home, naming the regions of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lublin as most at risk, adding: "This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens."

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

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

NATO is yet to comment on the incident. 

Since the war started in 2022, there have been several incidents of Russian drones entering the airspace of states bordering Ukraine, including Poland and Romania, but they have so far avoided shooting them down. 

Officials have cited the physical danger that such actions could cause and a desire to avoid an escalation in tensions between Russia and NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia used 415 drones and 40 missiles in attacks on Ukraine  overnight, adding that at least 8 drones "aimed toward Poland".

"An extremely dangerous precedent for Europe," he said. " A strong response is needed – and it can only be a joint response by all partners: Ukraine, Poland, all Europeans, the United States."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Western European claims that Russia could one day attack NATO members are nonsense aimed at portraying Russia as an enemy. Russia says it has no intention of stoking a war with the U.S.-led military alliance.

AIRPORT CLOSED

Chopin airport in Warsaw, the country's largest, closed its airspace for several hours before reopening. It said there would be disruptions and delays through the day. The airport in the city of Lublin, in eastern Poland, remained closed.

 Most of Ukraine, including western regions of Volyn and Lviv which border Poland, had been under air raid alerts for nearly all night, according to Ukraine's air force. 

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. 

Republican representative Joe Wilson, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a post on X that Russia was "attacking NATO ally Poland" with drones, calling it an "act of war".

Wilson urged U.S. President Donald Trump to respond with sanctions "that will bankrupt the Russian war machine".

"Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory," he said.  

Trump, who warmly welcomed Putin to the United States for a summit in August, said over the weekend he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia after months of fruitless talks about a peace deal. 

It was his strongest indication yet that he may escalate pressure on Moscow or its oil buyers in response to the war in Ukraine.

The European Union's top sanctions official was in Washington on Monday to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since Trump returned to office in January promising to end the war in 24 hours.

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. 

Poland earlier said it would close its border with Belarus on Thursday at midnight local time as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus.

Russia and Belarus' large-scale military exercises, known as the "Zapad" drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Lithuania said defences along its border with Belarus and Russia would be strengthened due to the exercises.