Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The Polish military says the operation of shooting down the objects is over – and now the search for answers begin.
The Polish military says the operation of shooting down the objects is over – and now the search for answers begin.
What is happening?
The Polish PM, Donald Tusk, said earlier this Wednesday morning, that Polish airspace was being continuously violated.
On X, he says that “a very large number of Russian drones” have entered Polish airspace, calling it a large-scale provocation.
Polish military shooting down objects
During the morning, the Polish military have actively shot down the objects entering Polish airspace.
At 7.42 AM Polish time, the military said that the operation was over.
Four airports closed
The unidentified objects caused four Polish airports to get shot down for security.
After the military operation ended, the airports have reopened.
Damaged drone found
The authorities are noiw working on recovering the wreckages of the objects shot down.
According to the local police in a village in Eastern Poland, 80 km from the Ukrainian border, a damaged drone has been found earlier this morning.
Residential property hit
Wreckage from a drone has hit a residential property in the East Polish city of Wyryki Wola.
No injuries have been reported.
Reactions from NATO and Ukraine
Sweden, Norway and Latvia have all called the violation of Polish airspace “unacceptable” and emphazised complete support for and solidarity with Poland.
Ukraine’s President, Volodomy Zelenskyy, says, that Russia “has to feel the consequence”.
It has not yet been confirmed that it was in fact Russian drones that violated the airspace.
Close to NATO-base in Poland
According to an expert, the unidentified objects have been airborne near a strategically important NATO-base in Poland.
To Danish TV 2, he says that this seems to have been a larger aerial assault, and that it is likely to spark discussions in NATO.
Still a lot of unanswered questions
The Kremlin has not yet reacted to what has happened, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions, including what will happen now.
Was it deliberate?
If it is confirmed to have been Russian drones violating Polish airspace, the next question is whether it was an intentional Russian assault, of if it was a mistake due to mechanical errors or simple ineptitude.
What was the target?
As mention, the drones where spotted in Polish airspace near a strategically important NATO-base.
If this was intentional, was the base the target?
What will Russia say?
The Kremlin will at some point react to being accussed of vilating Polish airspace, but what the Russian explanation is going to be remains unknown.
Will they accuse Poland of lying? Will they deny everythin? Or maybe try to blame Ukraine?
How will NATO react?
Poland are in contact with NATO General Secretary, Mark Rutte, to keep him up to date about what is happening.
If this turns out to be a deliberate attack, how will the alliance react?
The question of Article 5
The biggest question of all is if this event will be enough for the alliance to trigger Article 5, meaning all of the 32 members consider this an attack on them collectively.
If Article 5 is activated, the next question is how the NATO-allies will support Poland.
