Poland shoots down Russian drones, closes airports, calls up reservists
During Russia’s attack on Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, drones breached Polish airspace, where they were neutralized using aircraft weapons, and airports were closed due to the air attack, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz reported.
According to Tusk, Poland faced multiple airspace violations. He is in constant contact with the president and defense minister and received a direct report from the operational commander.
Tusk later reported that he discussed the situation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Meanwhile, Kosiniak-Kamysz said he is in contact with NATO command. Territorial defense forces were deployed to search for downed drones.
Poland’s territorial defense forces reported they may reduce the call-up time for reservists in some voivodeships.
In the voivodeships bordering Ukraine — Podlaskie, Masovian, Lublin, and Podkarpacie — reservists must report for duty no later than six hours later. For other voivodeships, this reporting time is longer. In the western regions, there are no plans to call up reservists within 24 hours.
“We ask you to remain calm and share only messages from military and state services. If fragments of objects are found, please do not approach them and report to the police,” Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces called the incident an “act of aggression,” noting that Polish and allied forces tracked dozens of targets using radars, some of which posed a threat.
As a result, the operational commander decided to neutralize them. Some of the drones that entered Polish airspace were shot down.
Due to the air attack, four Polish airports—two in Warsaw and one each in Rzeszów and Lublin—were temporarily closed, RMF24 reported. The reason cited was “unplanned military activity related to ensuring national security.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reacted to the downing of drones in Poland, stating that “Putin’s sense of impunity keeps growing because he was not properly punished for his previous crimes.”
According to the minister, “a decision needs to be taken” to allow air defenses of countries neighboring Ukraine to intercept drones and missiles in Ukrainian airspace, strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, and impose sanctions on Russia.
“A weak response now will provoke Russia even more—and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe,” he believes.
Overnight into Wednesday, Ukraine faced a massive Russian attack. Explosions were heard in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Vinnytsia, as well as in Khmelnytskyi and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
Several regions reported casualties, along with damage to industrial and residential infrastructure. Among the affected homes was one belonging to veteran Oleksandr Shvetsov, previously covered by hromadske.
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