Poland says Nato jets have been scrambled to shoot down Russian drones that “repeatedly violated” the country’s airspace.
Jets from Poland and the alliance were activated on Wednesday morning and citizens were told to stay at home after a military operation was launched to seize the downed projectiles.
Warsaw has urged citizens to stay at home.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland.
It was not immediately clear how many drones were in Poland’s airspace.
The airspace over Chopin Airport and Modlin Airport in Warsaw was also closed due to “unplanned military activity”, Polish officials said.
Ukrainian media reported that at least one drone was heading towards the western Polish city of Rzeszow, near Ukraine’s western border.
As a member of Nato, Poland is protected by alliance forces should it come under attack from a non-Nato member.
Military officials in Poland say the country's airspace was "repeatedly violated by drone-type objects" in the overnight hours amid Russian strikes on targets in Ukraine.
"An operation is underway aimed at identifying and neutralizing the objects," the Polish military said in a statement, which urged people to stay at home.
The military said it is "actively working" to locate the downed objects.
The most threatened areas are the areas of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie and Lubelskie.
Earlier, the Polish military said it had scrambled jets and was taking "preventative" action during the "massive attack" carried out by Russia on facilities in Ukraine.
"Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness," the military said in the earlier statement.
Poland shot down Russian drones over its airpsace early on Wednesday, the Polish armed forces said, marking the first time Warsaw has engaged Russian assets since the Ukraine war began.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said the country's "airspace was repeatedly violated by drones", adding "weapons have been used, and operations are underway to locate the downed targets".
Nato and Polish jets were scrambled as Russia launched a drone-and-missile attack on Ukraine close to the Polish border.
Four airports in Poland, including the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, were closed due to "military activity", according to the US Federal Aviation Administration's website.
The president and prime minister of Poland have been notified as an operation to neutralise objects that have violated Polish airspace is underway, Polish defence minister Cezary Tomczyk said on X.
No comments:
Post a Comment