Poland has shot down Russian drones in response to airspace violations.
Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, confirmed that Polish Operational Command had shot down the suspected Russian drones on Wednesday, after they violated Polish airspace returning from an attack on Ukraine.
Speaking to Polish parliament, he described the intervention as “the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II”.
Tusk also activated Article Four of NATO's treaty, which allows alliance members to demand consultations with allies.
Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy confirmed that after the drones were shot down, he had a call with Tusk, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, and Giorgia Meloni, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy.
“Of course, first and foremost, we discussed the Russian drones launched against Ukraine last night that also entered Polish airspace,” he wrote on X.
“This time the number of Russian drones was much larger, the brazenness much greater…this is a completely different level of escalation from Russia. There must be an appropriate response.”
