On 10 September 2025, Poland claimed that it had shot down several Russian drones that had violated its airspace. The incident came during the largest Russian aerial assault on Ukraine in months, raising immediate fears of a spillover into NATO territory.
Following the incident, which was described as an “act of aggression” by the Polish military, Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency cabinet meeting and placed Poland’s armed forces on their highest alert. He emphasised that many drones had entered Polish airspace directly from Belarus, insisting this was neither an error nor a minor provocation, unlike previous incidents. Considering the seriousness of the situation, Warsaw formally invoked Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, requesting urgent consultations among allies.
Russia denied the claim and accused the West of spreading stories to escalate the war in Ukraine. If Poland’s allegation is true, it would mark the first direct military engagement between a NATO country and Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
What exactly happened during the drone incursion into Poland?
Describing the incident as a “large-scale provocation”, Poland said 19 objects had crossed into its airspace, and four were shot down by its forces with the support of NATO allies. According to reports, the drones that violated Polish airspace were mainly the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, widely used by Moscow against Ukrainian cities. However, some reports suggest most of them were Russian-made Gerbera drones, a cheaper and smaller decoy version of the Shahed-136.
As per some accounts, unlike earlier stray incidents near NATO borders, several drones penetrated as deep as 40 kilometres into Poland, raising serious security concerns among NATO members. Although no casualties were reported, some of the drones struck residential areas, damaging homes and cars.
Polish F-16s, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance planes, and German support forces joined the Polish/NATO defence efforts. The Polish military reported that some of the drones were headed towards Rzeszów airport, a crucial NATO hub in supplying arms to Ukraine.
Assessing the incident, some analysts argued that Russia may have been testing the air defence and warning systems of NATO allies. Due to this, they believe, the drones were not loaded with explosives.
How did NATO and global leaders respond?
Many global leaders, including NATO member states, condemned the Russian move and extended their support to Poland.
U.S. President Donald Trump posted a vague remark on social media following the incident. His post on Truth Social said, “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” He later clearly downplayed the episode, suggesting that Russia’s drone incursion into Poland could have been a mistake.
Reports also reveal that President Trump later called Polish President Karol Nawrocki and extended his support for NATO efforts.
The UK Prime Minister described the incident as “egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace”; NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, called it Russia’s “reckless behaviour”. Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia called for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting to discuss the crisis.
Calling the incident an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian move against Poland was likely intended to slow down air defence supplies to Ukraine ahead of the coming winter.
What was the Russian response?
Following the incident, the Russian defence ministry statement said there had been no planned violation of Polish airspace. However, it expressed readiness to discuss the incident with Poland.
Later, the Russian embassy in Warsaw dismissed Poland’s accusations and asserted that the Polish side had not provided any evidence of Russian involvement. Denying Moscow’s involvement, a Russian diplomat in Warsaw also stated that the drones came “from the direction of Ukraine”.
Though it refused to admit any violation of Polish airspace, the Russian Defence Ministry agreed that they had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine.
Addressing the UNSC meeting convened to address the Polish airspace violation, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia asserted that it was physically impossible for Russian drones, with a range of less than 700 km, to reach Polish territory. Poland and other NATO members rejected this argument, stressing that “it is hard to imagine that so many drones flew so deep over Polish territory, unintentionally”.
What is NATO Article 4 and why did Poland invoke it?
Unlike Article 5, NATO’s collective defence clause, which treats an armed attack on one ally as an attack on all, Article 4 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty allows any member state to call for consultations whenever its security, sovereignty, or territorial integrity is threatened. It is essentially a political tool, designed to convene the North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO’s highest decision-making body, for joint assessment and response.
Since the creation of NATO, there have been only seven previous incidents invoking Article 4 by member countries. While Turkey utilised this privilege five times in the past, Poland previously invoked it in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea, and again in 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Poland’s latest move reflects both the scale of the security threat it faces from Russia and the risk that such violations could drag NATO directly into the Ukraine conflict. By invoking Article 4, Warsaw sought to demonstrate the seriousness of the violation, rally allied support, and ensure that the response would be framed as a collective NATO issue rather than a bilateral dispute with Moscow.
As Poland invoked Article 4 in the context of Russian violation of its airspace on 10September, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte convened the NAC and assessed the NATO response to the incident and its readiness to meet such Russian challenges.
What are the broader implications for NATO and global security?
The drone incursion has reignited fears that the Ukraine war could spill into NATO territory, with Poland warning at the UNSC on September 12 that the crisis had brought the region closer to conflict than ever before.
Though NATO responded to the Russian violation by reinforcing air policing on its eastern flank, the absence of US jets while European forces joined hands to intercept Russian drones emerged as clear evidence of shifting security dynamics in Europe. President Donald Trump’s response following the incident also altered the balance of European security and the NATO alliance.
Polish calls for military modernisation following the Russian airspace violation can be seen as clear evidence of changing perceptions of security in Europe amid perceived US reluctance to assume a leadership role in European security.
Globally, the crisis sends a clear message on shifting American interests and complicates transatlantic unity on Ukraine. If such incidents are repeated, they could test not only the alliance’s ability to remain unified in the face of sustained Russian pressure but also American leadership in the global security framework.