Russian drones shot down in Poland as NATO jets scramble, Zelensky calls for air shield

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says an incursion into Poland by Russian drones means Europe has to work on creating a joint air defence and an effective air shield.

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 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 II,” although 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 6.30am 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.

The Kremlin 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.

US 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.”

Zelensky spoke by telephone with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other European leaders on Wednesday.

“We need to work on a joint system of air defence and create an effective air shield over Europe,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram after the calls.

“Ukraine proposed this a long time ago. There are concrete decisions on this. We must react together to all current challenges and be prepared for potential threats to all Europeans in the future,” he added.

Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelensky said Ukraine had presented proposals for joint protection of European airspace “in a coordinated, well-thought-out, joint way”.

“No one can guarantee that there won’t be hundreds, if there are already dozens of drones. Only joint European forces can provide protection,” he said.

Zelensky suggested that joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises, due to get underway in Belarus, could serve as a “training plan” for future Russian action.

Strong action is vital, he said, to counter what Russia was doing.

“There are more than enough statements, but so far there is a shortage of action,” he said.

“The Russians are testing the limits of what is possible. They are testing reactions. They are monitoring how NATO countries’ armed forces act, what they can do and cannot yet do.”

Zelensky said Ukraine and all of Europe were “very much counting on a strong reaction from the United States”.