From the evening of September 9 to the morning of September 10, Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35, Italian AWACS reconnaissance aircraft and NATO's aerial fuel fighters were mobilized in the campaign to shoot down drones that violated Polish airspace as Russia launched a major airstrike in Ukraine.
This is the first time a NATO member has been involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict since the conflict broke out in 2022.
The Polish combat command confirmed that 19 UAVs entered the country's airspace from around 11:30 p.m. on September 9 to 6:30 a.m. on September 10. A UAV crashed into a house in Wyryki, eastern Poland, but fortunately did not cause any casualties.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it a "massive-scale Provocation", warning of the risk of conflict spreading "closer to any time since World War II". Poland immediately closed three airports, including Chopin International Airport in Warsaw, and called on people in the risk area for shelter.
The incident raises the question: Will NATO consider this an armed attack to apply Article 5 - collective defense? If something happens, all 30 members must join hands to react, even with military medicine. However, Prime Minister Tusk affirmed that Poland is currently only citing Article 4 for urgent consultations within NATO, not considering the Article 5 scenario.
Since 2020, Article 5 has only been activated once, after the September 11 terrorist attack in the US. Meanwhile, Article 4 has only been used 7 times, most recently when Russia launched a campaign in Ukraine in 2022.
Vice President of the European Commission, Ms. Kaja Kallas, called for more military aid to Ukraine and the construction of an eastern border shield as the most serious violation of Russia's airspace since the beginning of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of continuously pushing up the border by simultaneously attacking 15 Ukrainian provinces and cities with 415 UAVs and more than 40 missiles. He urged the West to react strongly to force Russia not to expand the war.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the accusation of Russian UAVs encroaching on Polish airspace, saying Warsaw has not provided evidence. The Russian Defense Minister in Poland also said the dropped UAVs departed from Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian military said it was the one who issued an early warning to Poland about the UAVs "disoriented" by electronic warfare by both Russia and Ukraine. Minsk said the Belarus air defense had also destroyed some aircraft that were not determined.
Observers said that this incident shows the risk of conflict spreading to the NATO border and the risk of a "military accident" that could spark a wider conflict. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk affirmed: "The situation is very serious, we are ready to deal with any scenario".
Although Poland and NATO have not activated Article 5, the suspected Russian UAV falling on Polish territory has pushed the alliance to the brink of a direct confrontation with Russia - an extremely dangerous confrontation that no one expected.
