A day after Polish and NATO forces shot down drones violating the country’s airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighboring Ukraine, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged to continue with a “great modernization programme” for his country’s military. The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency announced on Thursday that Poland had introduced air traffic restrictions along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine. It said the step was taken at the request of the Polish army for national security reasons, but did not elaborate.

Polish authorities in charge of air traffic said that the restrictions would remain in effect until December 9. Civilian unmanned aircraft, such as drones, are prohibited by the regulations. General aviation, which consists primarily of small recreational aircraft and helicopters, can fly during the day if they have a radio and transponder, but they cannot fly at night. On Wednesday, Tusk stated that the incident involving the drone incursion was “the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II,” despite the fact that he also stated that he had “no reason to believe we’re on the brink of war.” European officials described Wednesday’s incursion, which occurred during a wave of recent relentless Russian strikes on Ukraine, as a deliberate provocation, forcing the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time. Neither Poland nor NATO has yet given a full account of what they suspect the drones were doing.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Kyiv’s allies to respond more forcefully to the incursion into Poland, claiming that the move likely slowed supplies of air defenses to Ukraine in preparation for this winter.

At a briefing in Kyiv with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Zelenskyy also urged allies to reconsider their air defense capabilities, stating that missile-based systems are too costly to use against cheaper drones.

In one of his sharpest criticisms of his fellow members of the European Union to date, Stubb claimed that by purchasing Russian oil and gas, Hungary and Slovakia were funding the Kremlin’s “war machine.” Stubb also said the crossing of Russian drones into Poland showed Moscow was “seeking escalation” with NATO and that Europe needed to put further pressure on Russia.

Stubb stated to reporters, “When he says that Europe needs to stop buying Russian oil and gas, I think [US President] Donald] Trump is right about getting our own house in order.” “The finger points in two places. One is Hungary and the other one is Slovakia.

Naturally, we also ensure that President Trump is aware of who is purchasing Russian energy to fuel the Russian war machine. To the dismay of Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico have both sought closer ties with Russia and criticized European aid for Ukraine.

Poland said some of the drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday came from Belarus, where Russian and local troops have begun gathering for war games scheduled to start on Friday. Poland is closing its border with Belarus at midnight on Thursday, a planned move also associated with the military exercises.

China urged Poland on Thursday to keep open a section of the Belarus border for a China-EU freight track that crosses it, highlighting the war’s global repercussions. As part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative to boost trade with other nations, the rail line will be built.

Session of the UN Security Council Tusk addressed Polish troops at an airbase in the central city of Lask, praising their quick action and that of NATO allied forces from the Netherlands that responded to the Russian drone incursions.

On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel made the announcement that the incident had led his government to summon Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands. On the other hand, on Thursday, President Karol Nawrocki of Poland paid a defiant visit to the Poznan-Krzesiny base in western Poland. He stated in a statement that Poland “doesn’t get scared by Russian drones.”

The incursion was, in Nawrocki’s words, “an attempt to test our abilities, the ability to react.” He was also due to convene Poland’s national security council, which advises him on security threats.

The Kremlin said it had nothing to add to a statement on Wednesday by Russia’s Defence Ministry, which insisted that Russian forces had not targeted Poland and that it was open to discussing the incident with Polish officials.

It also dismissed talk of the incursion being a provocation. “The statements we hear from Warsaw: well, they’re nothing new. This rhetoric is typical of almost all European capitals,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
At Poland’s request, an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council has been scheduled for Friday afternoon to discuss the drone invasion.

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory. Wednesday’s incident was the first time a NATO member is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Russian drone attacks on civilian areas occur daily. The Ukrainian military has successfully developed drones to combat the attacks, called interceptors.

The Ukrainian air force said on Thursday its forces intercepted 62 out of 66 Russian strike and decoy drones in the country’s airspace overnight.

Oleh Hryhorov, regional head, wrote on Telegram that Russian drones and the debris from those that were intercepted damaged an educational facility, apartment blocks, and the historic Holy Resurrection Cathedral in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine.

SOURCE : WSN24 AND NEWS AGENCIES