The operational command of the Armed Forces of Poland has reported early on Wednesday that several drones that had entered their airspace in the framework of a new Russian attack against the territory of Ukraine has demolished during the night. According to a note from the military management body, after the monitoring of a “dozen” of radar objects, both by the Polish forces and of NATO allied countries, it was decided to neutralize those that represented a “threat” for the safety of citizens. The military command has described as “unprecedented violation of the Polish airspace” the action perpetrated by these pump vehicles.
The Polish Defense Minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, has confirmed that his combat planes have used his weapons to destroy “hostile objects.” “We are constantly contacting NATO’s command,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz. In the same sense, the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has been expressed, who has summoned an extraordinary meeting this morning of the National Security Office. “The security of our homeland is the highest priority and requires close cooperation,” said the president of the country, Karol Nawrocki.
In the early morning, the Polish army had announced that, due to the development of a new Russian offensive against “facilities” in Ukraine territory, devices of its Air Force and members of the Atlantic Alliance were in a alert situation with “preventive character”, as well as the anti -aircraft defense systems deployed on the ground.
Only a few minutes before, Ukrainian monitoring channels had indicated that several Russian attack drones had gone through the country’s border and had been demolished by Poles Combat aircraft. According to the Ukrainian air tracking websites, unmanned apparatus of the Geran type, a variant of the Iranian shahed used by Moscow in their offensive against kyiv, survived, first, the north and west of Ukraine, to subsequently cross the border towards the territory of the European Union and NATO. It is the first time that several of these devices enter into Poland and continue their trajectory for several kilometers, beyond the border.
His first destination, according to these channels, would have been the Polish city of Zamosc, about 70 kilometers from the border. This information has not been confirmed by Warsovia. “Efforts are being made to locate the possible places of impact of these objects,” said the Polish military command in its statement. The Polish Police have already found a first damaged drone in the town of CzosNowka, near the border with Belarus.
The Polish General Staff has urged citizens to find a demolished drone or some fragment, do not approach, touch or move the device. “These objects can continue to be dangerous and must be inspected by explosive deactivation patrols,” he said.
Airport closure
Rzesów airport, in East Poland, about 60 kilometers from the border crossing to Ukraine, communicated its temporary closure due to aerial activity. Subsequently and according to a note from the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, the Warsaw International Airport (Chopin) has also stopped operating by an “unplanned military activity related to the guarantee of state security”. These two airfields have joined in the cessation of operations that of Modlin and Lublin.
Dozens of drones took off at the last minute of this Tuesday from southern Belarus and the Russian west border towards the center and west of Ukraine. Some of the Ukrainian monitoring channels have counted more than a hundred of these vehicles launched as projectiles. Russia beat all its brands in the early hours of last Sunday by sending 810 drones against practically all the Ukraine regions. The impact of one of them against a property in kyiv caused the death of three people, including a woman and her baby.
About two in the morning on Wednesday, some of those drones were shot down while the Ukraine capital survived precisely. The Russian offensive tonight, executed in groups or swarms, has launched a larger amount than usual of these pump vehicles to cities such as Lvvv or Lutsk, in the western strip, which borders Poland. In a second phase, Russia has triggered around 40 missiles, also west of the country.
So far in September, Russia has launched about 3,000 attack drones against Ukrainian territory.
Since February 2022, Poland has maintained its alert fighters to prevent war from crossing the border. However, on several occasions, some Russian drone or fragments of one of these bombing vehicles have reached Polish soil after a large night offensive.
This Tuesday, Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the drones that entered the border had to be demolished, although he transferred the last decision to the operational command. 24 hours before, the authorities of the European country found the remains of one of those devices in the town of Polatycze, next to the border with Belarus.
The violation of the airspace of these attack drones represent an escalation in the tension between the West and Russia, unprecedented in the three and a half years of large -scale invasion of the Ukrainian territory. The act of “aggression” committed, as the Polish operational command has described, could be the subject of article 5 of the NATO Treaty. This clause states that an attack on one of the member countries of the Alliance is an attack towards all and, therefore, guarantees collective security.
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