Russia Violates Poland's Airspace – NATO Considers Putin Launching Missiles Near Border

As one of the countries closest to the war in Ukraine, Poland has long been wary. Now NATO membership is addressing critical security issues.

WARSAW – Poland and NATO have been intensively discussing possible defense measures since Monday, as missiles have repeatedly come dangerously close to Polish airspace since the start of the war in Ukraine, and another incident just days ago. Now Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said in an interview on the air RMF24 It also announced it would consider launching Russian missiles if they came too close to its own airspace.

This is the background to an incident in which a cruise missile launched by a Russian long-range aircraft briefly entered Polish airspace early Monday morning during an attack on western Ukraine, according to official reports. Warsaw then summoned the Russian ambassador, but he did not comply with this request.

Rocket in Polish airspace: Politician speaks of “sign of humiliation”.

Consequently, the statement German press agencyA diplomatic note seeking an explanation of the incident should be sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry through another channel. According to the British report Guardian Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz saw the ambassador's reaction to a request for “evidence” as a basis for a visit as “a sign of contempt”.

Talks have been underway since Monday between Poland and the NATO leadership under Major General Jens Stoltenberg, in parallel with an attempt to open a diplomatic exchange with Russia on the matter. Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Stoltenberg have already discussed ways to strengthen the defense of Polish and allied airspace on Monday.

The war is not far from NATO borders: Poland wants to consider many ideas

Ukrainian media reported Independence of Kiev Szejna said that “several ideas are now being analyzed” within NATO, including one that “considers firing missiles that come very close to NATO borders.” Russia must also know that such a maneuver could result in a counterattack, the news site quoted the Polish politician as saying.

Monday's incident is not the first such incident. According to reports, a Russian missile briefly entered Poland's airspace in late December 2023, putting the country's defense systems on alert. In November 2022, two civilians were killed in another incident. An investigation revealed that one of Ukraine's defense missiles had misfired and crashed. (Saga with dpa)