Firefighters and territorial defence officers stand close to the destroyed roof of a house, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, in Wyryki near Lublin, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
Police and Military Police secure parts of a damaged UAV shot down by Polish authorities at a site in Wohyn, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.(AP Photo)
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk holds an extraordinary government meeting at the chancellery, with military and emergency services officials, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP)
Firefighters and territorial defence officers stand close to the destroyed roof of a house, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, in Wyryki near Lublin, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
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Police and Military Police secure parts of a damaged UAV shot down by Polish authorities at a site in Wohyn, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.(AP Photo)
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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk holds an extraordinary government meeting at the chancellery, with military and emergency services officials, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged Thursday to push ahead with a “great modernization program†for his country’s military, a day after Russian drones crossed into Poland and forced the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time.
European officials described Wednesday’s incursion, which occurred during a wave of , as a deliberate provocation. It deepened longstanding fears that between Poland’s neighbors could precipitate a wider conflict. to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.
The Polish Air Navigation Agency announced Thursday morning that Poland was introducing air traffic restrictions in the eastern part of the country. It said the step was taken at the request of the Polish army for national security reasons but did not elaborate.
Poland said some of the drones that entered its airspace Wednesday came from Belarus, where Russian and local troops have begun gathering for scheduled to start Friday. Poland is closing its border with Belarus at midnight Thursday, a planned move also associated with the military exercises.
Tusk addressed Polish troops at an air base in the central city of Lask, praising their quick action and that of NATO allied forces from the Netherlands that responded to the multiple Russian drone incursions.
Poland expects to receive its first F-35 fighter jets from the United States next year, he said. It will be the first delivery of some of the 32 aircraft expected by 2030 as part of a support package finalized five years ago, Tusk said.
The jets are aimed at significantly strengthening Polish security and its NATO defense capabilities against regional threats.
“We will do everything to ensure that our allied obligations, which are so important from our point of view today, are fulfilled by our allies,†Tusk said
“We hope that the Americans will meet the deadlines. We would like the first batch of the F-35s to reach you in May, and so that we can speak of our air power with increasing confidence from month to month, and from year to year. And that Poland is truly safe from the sky.â€
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered an to Russia’s drone incursion. “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!†Trump posted on social media.
Trump told Polish President Karol Nawrocki in the White House last week that the U.S. will maintain
Several European leaders said they believed the incursion amounted to an intentional expansion of Russia’s assault against Ukraine.
“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,†European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday. “What (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to do is to test us. What happened in Poland is a game changer,†she said, adding that it should result in stronger sanctions.
Polish airspace has been since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory.
