A portion of Polish airspace, specifically southeast of the capital, experienced a temporary closure on Sunday due to “unplanned military activity.” This occurred during a new series of Russian attacks targeting Ukraine. Polish armed forces deployed fighter jets as a precaution to ensure the safety of the public. The airspace restrictions, which impacted the cities of Lublin and Rzeszów, were intended to remain in place until the early morning hours. Concurrently, Ukraine’s air force issued nationwide air raid sirens starting at 03:00 GMT on Sunday in response to the ongoing Russian missile strikes. Earlier in the month, Polish and NATO forces intercepted Russian drones that entered Polish airspace, marking their first direct military engagement with Moscow since the 2022 invasion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned NATO and the European Union that any aggression against Russia would be met with a decisive response. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Lavrov stated that Moscow had no intention of attacking the West but would retaliate if provoked. In the meantime, NATO announced an enhancement of its mission in the Baltic Sea, deploying an air defense frigate and other resources, including “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms,” in response to drone incursions near Denmark. Unidentified drones were observed near Danish military installations overnight on Saturday, which led authorities to classify the incidents as hybrid attacks. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described it as “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.” Copenhagen Airport, the busiest in the Nordic region, was temporarily closed, while five smaller Danish airports, both civilian and military, also experienced brief closures in the following days. Neighboring Norway also reported police investigations into potential drone sightings near Oerland air force base, a key hub for the country’s F-35 jets. In Germany, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt reported a drone “swarm” over Schleswig-Holstein, and expressed a desire to amend air safety laws to allow the armed forces to shoot down drones. On Friday, defense ministers from around ten EU nations expressed their intention to prioritize constructing a “drone wall” to safeguard their borders. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by stating that such measures would escalate military and political tensions on the continent, further claiming the plans reflected “personal ambitions and political games of the EU’s ruling elites.”
