Speaking during his latest official foreign visit in London, Poland’s top diplomat said 21 drones entered Poland over seven hours, forcing airport closures in the east and central Poland. All were unarmed, indicating the incursion may have been a test of Poland’s and NATO’s air defences, possibly coordinated with Belarus.
“They were launched from a single location, and they were all unarmed. If this was an accidental offshoot of that night’s attack on Ukraine, you would expect the mix of drones to be the same, some armed, some unarmed. All the ones that crossed into Poland were unarmed,” Sikorski noted.
The Polish minister warned that Russia’s hybrid operations, including poisonings, sabotage, and drone strikes, form part of a “spectrum of provocations” against the West, adding that the incursion and other acts were ultimately counterproductive for Moscow, consolidating support for NATO deterrence policies.
Sikorski sees drone incursion as a test of NATO defences
The diplomat also dismissed concerns that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would be too provocative, noting they could target Russian oil refineries and help Ukraine reduce Moscow’s oil production.
Sikorski cited repeated warnings against sending advanced weaponry, saying “every time Russia has had to adjust.”
The top diplomat put the drone incursion in historical context, arguing that Putin sees Russia as perpetually at war with the West, dating back to events including the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
Sikorski also refuted suggestions from leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán that Russia always wins, highlighting historical Russian defeats in Crimea, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, Poland in 1920, and Afghanistan.
EU plans continent-wide anti-drone system
The head of Poland's diplomacy was in London for routine meetings, including with the UK Foreign Secretary and senior officials, and visited parliament to showcase a decommissioned Shahed-136 drone.
The Guardian also reported that the EU plans to roll out comprehensive anti-drone defences across the continent by 2027, a project originally dubbed the “drone wall.”
The system aims to detect, track, and neutralise hostile drones while potentially using drone technology for precision strikes, though EU officials plan to drop the “wall” terminology to gain wider support.
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Source: The Guardian/X/@sikorskiradek/@Gerashchenko_en