Poland lifts air-raid alert after scrambling jets amid nearby Russian strikes
Polish authorities ended a short-term alert after deploying fighter jets and sounding sirens when Russian attacks on western Ukraine approached the border.
Following Russian attacks on western Ukraine that came within a few kilometres of the Polish border, sirens were activated in eastern Poland and fighter jets were launched. The Polish army confirmed that no airspace violation occurred and that the aircraft had finished their patrols. Temporary closures at Rzeszow and Lublin airports were lifted after the threat subsided.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters the assault was a large-scale strike near Poland and noted a petrol station may have been hit. Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski said a drone either crashed or was shot down roughly four kilometres from the border, while Ukrainian officials reported explosions on their side of the frontier. Children were evacuated from a school in Lublin during the alert.
Why it matters
The incident shows how Russian strikes on Ukraine can quickly threaten NATO member airspace, prompting heightened alerts.
How this story developed
- Sep 3 Polish fighters intercept Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane near Ustka
- Sep 8 Russian drones attacked the Starokozache crossing in Odesa, killing two civilians and injuring three, while a separate strike set fire to a building in Kyiv.
- Sep 9 NATO fighters intercepted a Russian drone over Romanian airspace.
- Sep 9 Russian drones hit a border crossing in Ukraine’s Odesa region, killing two civilians, and set fire to a building in Kyiv.
- Sep 12 Poland deployed a helicopter and raised its air‑defence alert following Russian drone attacks in western Ukraine.
- Sep 13 Polish combat aircraft were ordered to operate in national airspace in the early hours of Saturday.
- Sep 13 A Russian drone struck a passenger train locomotive within two kilometres of the Poland‑Ukraine border, causing no casualties.
- Sep 14 Poland deployed a helicopter to patrol its airspace and issued civilian alerts following the drone attacks.
- Sep 14 A train carrying former British prime minister Boris Johnson and other senior officials was reported to be near the drone strike.
- Sep 14 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced Ukraine had offered its allies to secure an agreement with Russia to end destruction of critical infrastructure.
- Sep 15 Report clarified that the damaged locomotive was intended to adjust wheelsets for differing track gauges.
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