Rome (ANSA) – A night of unprecedented high tension in Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A swarm of Russian drones violated the airspace of Warsaw, in what many Western leaders believe to be a “deliberate” attack by Russia – and not a mistake as sporadically occurred in the past – which began on Tuesday evening and ended at dawn the next day.
“We have never been so close to a conflict since World War II,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, announcing that he had requested the activation of Article 4 of NATO, a consultation mechanism among member countries in case of threat to one of the parties. The Prime Minister then spoke in the afternoon with Secretary General Mark Rutte and several allies, including the French Emmanuel Macron, the British Keir Starmer, and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“Last night in Poland we witnessed the most serious violation of European airspace by Russia since the beginning of the war, and everything suggests that it was an intentional act, not accidental,” declared EU High Representative Kaja Kallas. For its part, the Kremlin rejected the accusations: “They attribute provocations to us every day.” The Russian Ministry of Defense denied targeting objectives in Polish territory and accused Warsaw of wanting to “increase the escalation.”
“There have been 19 violations” of airspace, Tusk reported immediately, and at least 3 drones had been shot down. As the hours passed and with the assistance of 12,000 agents, the Warsaw Ministry of the Interior announced that it had found the wreckage of 15 drones, mainly in the Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. Harsh was the comment from Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “Russia has endangered human lives in a NATO and EU member state,” he stated, speaking of “reckless action.”
Enigmatic was the comment from American President Donald Trump, who appears increasingly surprised – if not disappointed – by Putin’s moves despite the face-to-face meeting in mid-August in Alaska: “Why is Russia violating Polish airspace with drones? Here we are!”: is the cryptic post of the tycoon on Truth.
Through their ambassador to the Atlantic Alliance, Matthew Witaker, the United States has nonetheless assured that they are “by the side of NATO allies in the face of these airspace violations” and the commitment to “defend every inch of the territory” of the Alliance (September 10).
