On the night of 10 September, Poland deployed fighter jets to intercept Russian drones that had breached its airspace for the first time. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said four of the 19 drones were successfully shot down. The operation brought together Polish F-16s, Dutch F-35s, and Italian AWACS reconnaissance and refuelling aircraft. In the wake of the strike, several airports, including Rzeszów, Lublin and Warsaw, were temporarily closed.
PiS politician Dariusz Stefaniuk posted photos showing the damage inside Poland. “Today, in my village of Chosnówka, a drone crashed — fortunately it fell in a field, far from any buildings, and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, things were worse in the village of Wyrki in Włodawa County, where a drone hit a residential house last night. It’s a miracle no one was injured. These events show how close the threats are that we once thought applied only to the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. We must speak out about the safety of our families and homes,” he wrote.
The page Nocna Jazda Tomaszów Mazowiecki published photos of a Russian Gerbera drone that crashed in a field some 300 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, near Mnichów, close to the town of Opoczno in Łódź Voivodeship. “I can confirm that the drone has been found. Emergency services are already working at the site, so I cannot provide more detailed information,” Opoczno district governor Marcin Baranowski told RMF 24.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the drones that violated Polish airspace had, for the first time, flown in directly from Belarus. He added there was no reason to panic, calling the incident “most likely a large-scale provocation.” NATO also said it does not consider the drones’ entry into Polish territory that night to be an attack on a member state.
Meanwhile, Polish politician Sławomir Mentzen criticised the government, saying Poland is unprepared for the war and “completely defenceless.” “I would like Polish politicians — I mean those in power, because the opposition can’t do anything — and our society to finally wake up. The war has been raging for three and a half years on our eastern border, and during that time there has been a revolution on the battlefield. Both Ukraine and Russia now produce millions of drones each year. The Polish army is boasting that it ordered 10,000 drones under a multi-year contract. That’s ridiculous. We are absolutely not ready for this conflict,” he said.
Mentzen added that Poland is currently incapable of fending off a massive drone attack. “Russia is capable of producing several thousand Shaheds in a single month. Right now, we’re not in a position to repel such an attack, and politicians are doing nothing about it,” he said. His comments have since sparked a wave of criticism across Poland.
Former presidential adviser and Polish ambassador to NATO, Tomasz Szatkowski, said Poland’s response to this act of Russian aggression must be firm yet measured. “It is in Poland’s interest to demonstrate solidarity with its allies while also asserting its own agency. Consultations under Article 4 and a reinforcement of air defences by allies are the absolute minimum,” he wrote.
Polish analyst Krzysztof Nieczypor put the situation in blunt terms: “If incidents like this trigger political destabilisation, deepen social divides, fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment, and increase calls to end military and financial aid to Ukraine, then they will continue and escalate. But if they have the opposite effect — mobilising society, consolidating political forces, and spurring greater involvement in countering Russian aggression — then they will stop.”
Polish journalist Artur Bartkiewicz told Rzeczpospolita that Russia sending several dozen drones into Poland demonstrates how the Kremlin perceives current Western pressure — not as strength, but as weakness.
“As long as the US keeps issuing deadlines for when measures against Putin will ‘definitely’ be taken, he will continue to push the limits and say, ‘I’ll test it.’ So far, each time, those ultimatums have proven to be nothing more than bluffs,” he said.
According to Bartkiewicz, the events of the night of September 9–10 are a clear signal for Poland to put an end to political squabbles — at least when it comes to security and diplomacy. “This is not the time to prove to each other, through posts on X or snide remarks at press conferences, who has ‘won’ the Polish–Polish war, where the Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister’s Chancellery have become barricades. Faced with a real threat, we cannot afford division. Since this morning, there have been signals of constant contact between the President’s Office and the government. And that’s good. But it must remain that way in the days, weeks, and months ahead. It’s time to grow up, because history is beginning to demand it of us,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, it emerged that Russia had been preparing its attacks since July. At that time, reports in Poland revealed that fragments of Russian drones shot down over Ukraine contained 4G modems with SIM cards from Polish operators, as well as one from Lithuania. The Defense Express suggested that the Russians were likely gathering intelligence on Poland’s air defence systems, particularly ahead of the “Zapad-2025” military exercises, scheduled to begin in just two days.
Another Polish journalist, Marek Budzisz, noted that, according to Ukrainians, the incident could either signal preparations to test strike corridors targeting both countries — since it is known that the Russians use mobile networks to adjust drone flight paths — or indicate an escalation of attacks on western Ukraine. “The task for Polish services is to determine who purchased the SIM cards, as registration is required for their acquisition,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, German politician and Bundestag member from the Christian Democratic Union, Roderich Kiesewetter, argued that displays of solidarity in this situation are misplaced. “It is finally time to respond decisively and firmly! The chatter about peace talks must stop. Ukraine needs ‘Taurus’ missiles and massive military support immediately, because Russia feeds on our weakness. Russia and the CRINK must be stopped! Ukraine must be armed so it can push the Russians back, including by striking military targets inside Russia. Our peace, freedom, and self-determination are being tested by Russia and are in serious jeopardy,” he wrote.
Amid these latest developments, EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius called for the rapid creation of a “drone wall” along the EU’s eastern flank, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled plans to advance six billion euros in loans, funded from profits on frozen Russian assets, to ramp up drone production for Ukraine. “Ukraine has creativity. Now it needs scale. And together we can provide it: ensuring Ukraine keeps its edge while Europe strengthens its own,” she said.
