By Brad Lendon, Isaac Yee and Nina Subkhanberdina for CNN
Warsaw International Airport was closed as reports surfaced of Russian drones over Poland.
Photo: AFP / ARTUR WIDAK
Poland’s military says it has shot down drones that violated its airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine, in what is potentially a major provocation for Europe.
“Weapons have been deployed, and services are actively working to locate the downed objects,” said a statement from Poland’s Operational Command posted on X.
The statement said a military operation was ongoing and urged residents to stay in their homes. Additional information about the “drone-type objects” was not provided.
Poland is a member of the NATO alliance, a transatlantic defense pact involving the US that employs the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN that he has been briefed on reports of Russian drones over Poland.
“Yes,” he said when asked by CNN if he had received a briefing, as he left a dinner with President Donald Trump on Tuesday night.
Earlier, Polish authorities closed Warsaw International Airport and the military said Polish and NATO aircraft have been scrambled as reports have surfaced of Russian drones over the country.
The Polish military’s Operational Command said in a statement that “ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest level of alert” after Russia launched massive airstrikes on Ukrainian territory.
“To ensure the security of Polish airspace, the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces has activated all necessary procedures,” the statement said, adding that the Polish military is “fully prepared for immediate response.”
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) posted on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website said Warsaw Chopin Airport and at least two other airports in Poland were unavailable “due to unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security.”
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland, but the statement has since been deleted, Reuters reported.
It was not immediately clear how many drones were in Poland’s airspace.
Ukrainian media reported that at least one drone was heading towards the western Polish city of Rzeszow.
CNN cannot independently verify the reports.
Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, in the southeast of Poland, has also been closed, according to a NOTAM. The airport has been a logistics hub for NATO aid to Ukraine, though the United States pulled its forces from the base earlier this year.
The airport in Lublin, Poland, southeast of Warsaw, was also unavailable due to military activity, another NOTAM said.
Poland earlier announced it was closing its eastern border with Russian ally Belarus, due to joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises beginning Friday, Reuters reported.
The Zapad 25 large-scale exercises, which will take place in western Russia and Belarus, have raised security concerns not only in Poland but also in the neighboring NATO countries on Lithuania and Latvia, according to Reuters.
“On Friday, Russian-Belarusian maneuvers, very aggressive from a military doctrine perspective, begin in Belarus, very close to the Polish border,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a government meeting, Reuters reported.
“Therefore, for national security reasons, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, in connection with the Zapad maneuvers on Thursday at midnight,” Tusk said.
– CNN