The country’s Territorial Defence Forces have been activated to search for wreckage of downed drones, Kosiniak-Kamysz said, and he urged people not to pick up any “fragments of objects”, saying they should instead inform the police.
Polish police said a damaged drone had been found in the eastern village of Czosnowka.
If the drones are confirmed as Russian, it would be the first time in the Ukraine war that Warsaw has engaged Russian assets in its airspace.
Russia’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
‘Unplanned military activity’
Polish and other NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled about midnight (8am AEST) after the Ukrainian Air Force warned on social media that Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
Flight tracking accounts on X reported that NATO aircraft, including F-35 fighters, were operating over Poland. A Dutch Air Force A330 tanker aircraft used to refuel fighter jets appeared to be flying in a holding pattern over eastern Poland, Flightradar24 data showed.
Four airports in Poland, including the country’s largest, Chopin Airport in Warsaw, were closed due to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security”, according to notices posted to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
In a social media post, Chopin Airport said it remained open but that “no flight operations are currently taking place”.
Police officers and medics evacuate Olha Trush, 86, from Yarova, a village hit by a Russian air strike that killed dozens of civilians, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, on Tuesday.Credit: AP
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland, but later deleted the post.
In another development, Poland said it would close its border with Belarus on Thursday at midnight Polish time as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus, amid escalating tensions between Minsk and Warsaw.
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Russia and Belarus’ large-scale military exercises, known as the “Zapad” drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Zapad-2025 (“West 2025”) will be held in western Russia and Belarus.
The exercises will include drills on the possible use of nuclear weapons and the Russian-made, intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik missile, according to the Belarusian defence minister.
NATO is holding drills on its side of the border at around the same time. Both Poland and Lithuania began exercises earlier this month, with allied troops taking part.
At midnight on Tuesday, London time (9am AEST), most of Ukraine, including the western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland and are far from the Russian-Ukrainian war front line, were under air raid alerts for several hours, according to Ukraine’s Air Force data.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Russian airstrike killed 24 elderly people who were collecting pensions in a village in eastern Ukraine, officials said, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to urge Kyiv’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow to end its war.
Russian troops have pressed a grinding offensive across much of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, as diplomatic efforts to achieve peace in the 3½-year-old war have largely stalled.
On Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone assault so far in the war, targeting Ukrainian government buildings in central Kyiv for the first time.
The attack triggered Poland to activate its own air defences, the Polish military said, while the Trump administration said it was prepared to increase economic pressure on Russia.
President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who appears unwilling to compromise in his demands to end the conflict, the New York Times reported.
Reuters
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