Polish prime minister reports massive Russian drone strike near border
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a large Russian attack hit western Ukraine close to Poland, prompting Polish fighter jets to scramble.
At a press briefing with Austria’s Christian Stocker in Warsaw, Prime Minister Donald Tusk relayed a warning that Russia had just launched a massive, brutal attack on the western part of Ukraine close to Poland, near Jagodzin and Dorohusk. He indicated that the strike probably hit a gasoline station and that Polish fighter jets were ordered into action. The incident triggered civil defence alerts in Lubelskie and Podkarpackie, with sirens sounding in Rzeszow and Lublin.
Military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski said a drone detonated roughly four kilometres from the border, and that one of the related targets was either neutralised by Ukrainian forces or destroyed. Temporary suspensions of flights at Rzeszow and Lublin airports were announced, and the air-raid alert was lifted around 12:50 after confirming no breach of Polish airspace.
Why it matters
The strike highlights the risk of spillover from the Russia-Ukraine conflict onto neighboring NATO members.
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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