Tensions are soaring between NATO-member Poland and Russia amid allegations of another airspace violation. Poland’s military says it is currently hunting for a potential downed Russian drone within its sovereign borders.

Poland’s Armed Forces announced a ‘likely’ airspace violation during Monday’s major Russian air assault which targeted 15 out of 24 Ukrainian oblasts, and which chiefly took out energy and electrical infrastructure. The attack included cruise missiles, drones, and Kinzhal hypersonics and is being widely acknowledged as one of the biggest nationwide aerial assaults of the war.

Illustrative file image: Reuters

“We are probably dealing with the entry of an object on Polish territory. The object was confirmed by at least three radiolocation stations,” Major General Maciej Klisz told reporters, describing that it was probably a drone. “It is clear from its characteristics that the object is not a missile, it is not a hypersonic, ballistic or guided missile.”

The Polish military described an ongoing search for what is “probably an unmanned aerial vehicle” that is some 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. “There was full readiness to neutralize this object,” a statement said further.

“The object disappeared from the radars around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) deep into Polish territory early in the morning,” Gen. Klisz specified. 

Since the war in neighboring Ukraine began, there have been several instances of reported Polish airspace violations, with the most serious being the November 2022 incident which saw an errant Ukrainian air-defense missile falling on the Polish village of Przewodow, killing two Polish citizens.

And in December 2023, a Russian cruise missile spent several minutes inside Polish airspace before entering back into Ukraine.

President Zelensky has since claimed that Poland is now committed to shooting down Russian missiles and drones over Ukrainian territory if the inbound projectiles are deemed a threat to Poland’s defense.

Ukrainian media reported in July:

Ukraine and Poland agreed to further develop political, military, and economic cooperation, and “cooperate closely in the reconstruction of Ukraine as a sovereign and democratic state.”

During the joint press conference with Tusk, Zelensky thanked Poland for the “special agreements” in the document.

The president added that the security agreement includes a provision to develop “a mechanism” for intercepting Russian missiles and drones in Ukraine’s airspace aimed at Poland.

However, Polish leadership never explicitly backed these statements, but only said such a defense posture is under review and discussion.

Thus far, NATO states have not fired directly on Russian forces or assets operating inside Ukraine, on fears that this could ignite nuclear-armed war between Moscow and NATO.