Poland downs drones in its airspace
A Polish police officer stands near an unmanned aerial vehicle fragment in Czesniki, Poland. Russian drones violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine and some were shot down by Poland. Photo: Reuters
Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace on Wednesday with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia's war in Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament it was "the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two", though he also said he had "no reason to believe we're on the brink of war".
Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance planes and NATO mid-air refuelling aircraft scrambled in an operation to shoot down drones entering Polish airspace from Tuesday evening until morning, officials said.
One drone smashed into pensioner Tomasz Wesolowski's two-storey brick house in the eastern Polish village of Wyryki-Wola at 6:30am while he was downstairs watching news about the incursion.
The roof was destroyed and debris was strewn across the bedroom. Wesolowski told Reuters the house "needs to be demolished".
A blackened spot in a field elsewhere in southeastern Poland showed where some other drones had fallen. Moscow denied responsibility for the incident, with a senior diplomat in Poland saying the drones had come from the direction of Ukraine.
Russia's defence ministry said its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine but it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland.
US President Donald Trump plans later on Wednesday to speak with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and political ally whom Trump hosted at the White House last week. "What's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones? Here we go!"
Trump posted on Truth Social, without elaborating. The leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Canada were among NATO leaders to condemn the Russian incursion in strong terms.