Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace on Wednesday with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia's war in Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament it was "the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two," though he also said he had "no reason to believe we're on the brink of war."
Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance planes, and NATO mid-air refuelling aircraft scrambled in an operation to shoot down drones entering Polish airspace from Tuesday evening until morning, officials said.
One drone smashed into pensioner Tomasz Wesolowski's two-storey brick house in the eastern Polish village of Wyryki-Wola at 6:30 a.m. while he was downstairs watching news about the incursion.
The roof was destroyed, and debris was strewn across the bedroom. Wesolowski told Reuters the house "needs to be demolished."
A blackened spot in a field elsewhere in southeastern Poland showed where some other drones had fallen.
During the incident, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces urged residents to stay home, with three eastern regions at particular risk.
Several Polish airports were temporarily closed, including Rzeszow, which has been used as the main access point for Western officials and supplies travelling to Ukraine overland. The suspected incursion was conducted at least in part with Gerbera drones, according to a Polish army official. It is a cheap long-range drone that Ukrainian intelligence says is assembled from kits supplied by Chinese manufacturer Skywalker Technology at Russia's Yelabuga facility.
Here is what we know about the Gerbera drones:
It is a cheap long-range drone which Ukrainian intelligence says is made of materials like plywood and foam and assembled at Russia's vast Yelabuga facility.
It has a broad wingspan of 2.5 m, maximum weight of 18 kg, maximum speed of 160 kph, maximum range of 600 km, and small engine at the back spinning a wooden propeller, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Ukraine and Western analysts say Russia uses the Gerbera as a cheap way to saturate Ukraine's air defences.
It can be used as a decoy, drawing the attention of air defences away from much pricier Shahed drones, which carry powerful warheads. However, analysts say that since its introduction, other versions of the Gerbera with light warheads or reconnaissance equipment have emerged.
"Gerberas are usually employed as part of a mix of systems," said Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "It therefore seems possible that the incursion featured other Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems of which we have not yet seen debris."
According to Ukraine, the Gerbera is assembled in Russia from kits supplied by Chinese manufacturer Skywalker Technology.
Beijing insists it is neutral in the war and denies supplying military assistance to Russia.
Ukraine's intelligence agency also says it found electronic components from U.S. and European manufacturers in the Gerbera, despite restrictions on exports of dual-use technologies to Russia.
Moscow denied responsibility for the incident, with a senior diplomat in Poland saying the drones had come from the direction of Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry said its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine, but it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and political ally whom Trump hosted at the White House last week. "This conversation is part of a series of consultations I've been conducting with our allies," Nawrocki said in a post on X. "Today's talks reaffirmed our unity."
Ahead of the phone call, Trump posted on social media: "What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!" He did not elaborate.
The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, and Canada were among the NATO leaders to condemn the suspected Russian incursion.
European leaders, who have been trying to persuade Trump to join them in tightening sanctions on Russia and boosting support for Kyiv, said it justified a collective response.
Slovenia, Denmark, Greece, France, and Britain have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet on Friday over what they deemed Russian violations of Polish airspace, diplomats said.
Poland said 19 objects had entered its airspace during a large Russian air attack on Ukraine, and that it had shot down those posing a threat.
Tusk called the incident a "large-scale provocation" and said he had activated Article 4 of NATO's treaty, under which alliance members can demand consultations with their allies.
Neither Poland nor NATO has yet given a full account of what they suspect the drones were doing. One senior military source said at least five of the drones' flight paths indicated they were headed towards Rzeszow airport, NATO's main hub for arms supplies to Ukraine.
The Kremlin declined to comment directly on the incident, but spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the EU and NATO "accuse Russia of provocations on a daily basis."
The Czech Defence Ministry said it was ready in the coming days to send three Mi-171S helicopters to Poland to aid its defence against drones at lower altitudes.
Countries bordering Ukraine have reported occasional Russian missiles or drones entering their airspace during the war, but not on such a large scale, and they are not known to have shot them down. Two people were killed in Poland in 2022 by a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray.
Since NATO’s creation in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked seven times, most recently in February 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"This is going to shock the NATO alliance and the border countries, they're all in the same situation," said Riki Ellison, an expert on missile defence close to U.S. and allied military forces.
"It's not the beginning of World War Three, but it's evolving Russia's understanding of how we fight and our weaknesses."
Russia has long said it has no intention of stoking a war with NATO and that Western European countries suggesting it is a threat were trying to worsen relations.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for more sanctions on Russia, and said the EU was preparing sanctions on "shadow fleet" tankers that transport its oil and third countries that buy it.
Trump, who warmly welcomed Putin in Alaska at a summit in August, said over the weekend he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia after months of talks about a peace deal.
