About The Early Bad News Yesterday-

Here’s What to Know About Poland Shooting Down Russian Drones

On Wednesday morning, Poland shot down several Russian drones that entered its airspace—a first since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The incident disrupted air travel and set the region on edge.

Early Wednesday morning, Poland shot down several Russian drones that had violated its airspace during a massive strike against western Ukraine. The Polish military operation, confirmed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk through a social media message in the early morning hours, marks a turning point in Warsaw’s involvement in the conflict that has affected the region for more than two and a half years. The Polish defense agency reported the presence of more than 10 objects coming from Ukrainian airspace and called the violation an “act of aggression.”

Poland Invokes NATO Article 4

In response to the raid, Poland activated Article 4 of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty, requesting immediate consultations with allies. Tusk urgently convened a meeting of the Council of Ministers at 8 am local time, maintaining constant contact with the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, to coordinate the political and diplomatic response.

Article 4 allows a NATO member to solicit consultations whenever it believes its security, territorial integrity, or political independence is threatened. Unlike Article 5, which provides for collective military action in the event of an armed attack, Article 4 does not compel immediate military action, but its activation nevertheless constitutes a significant political escalation, as it emphasizes the unity of the alliance in responding to perceived threats against NATO members.

Poland had already been on high alert for possible aircraft overruns since at least November 2022, when a stray Ukrainian missile accidentally hit a village in the south of the country, killing two people. Until now, however, there had been no recorded cases of Polish or allied defense systems shooting down drones on national territory. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that “at least eight” Iranian-made Shahed drones were “aimed in the direction of Poland” during the nighttime attack, suggesting the incursion into Polish airspace was intentional.

NATO Defense Activated

Residents of the affected Polish areas reported hearing explosions in the sky during the night, followed by the activation of warning sirens. The alert was triggered precisely during a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s western regions, particularly those in Volyn and Lviv that directly border Poland.

According to information released by the Polish military command, national and NATO air defense systems were activated immediately after radar detected the entry of unmanned aircraft into Polish airspace. The interception operation continued for several hours, with the armed forces neutralizing objects deemed dangerous using air defense systems. The search for the wreckage of the downed drones is still ongoing in the eastern parts of the country as of midday Wednesday.

Airports Temporarily Closed

The intervention led to the temporary closure of four airports, including Warsaw-Chopin and Lublin, as well as the Rzeszów airport, which has become a crucial hub for sending Western military aid to Ukraine in the past two years. The United States Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the temporary closure of the Polish airports for “unplanned military activity related to national security.”

The Russian drone strike also hit eastern Ukraine hard: According to reports by the BBC citing local Ukrainian officials, 24 people were killed and 19 wounded in an air raid on a village in the Donetsk region, where the victims were standing in line to collect their pensions. The incident comes amid a particularly intense phase of the conflict, where Moscow’s troops are carrying out a slow but steady offensive in much of Donetsk, in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, diplomatic attempts to reach a peace agreement have essentially stalled, and contacts between Washington and Moscow in recent months have produced no concrete results.

Rising Tensions

The incident comes at a time of particular tension in the region. Only 24 hours before Poland shot down Russia’s drones, the Polish president warned during a press conference in Helsinki that Russian president Vladimir Putin would be ready to invade other countries after the aggression against Ukraine. The timing of the incursion takes on even greater significance when one considers that on Friday, September 13, Russia and Belarus will kick off joint military exercises dubbed “Zapad,” which have already raised regional security concerns.

Poland had announced Tuesday that it was closing its border with Belarus precisely in response to what Warsaw calls “very aggressive” maneuvers, in addition to the growing number of provocations by Moscow and Minsk. Neighboring Lithuania has also decided to tighten border controls, a sign of widespread alertness among NATO member countries that border Russia and Belarus.

Wednesday’s incident also comes at a delicate time for international diplomacy: US president Donald Trump declared over the weekend that he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctions against Russia after months of unsuccessful negotiations for a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. The downing of drones on Polish territory now risks further complicating any mediation efforts.

This story originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.

Unknown's avatar

Published by ali redford

I love dogs and people. I want living creatures to thrive. I love to cook, and share the food, but ya gotta get in line in front of the dog.

36 thoughts on “About The Early Bad News Yesterday-”

    1. Yeah, me, too. Sec. Rubio is the closest thing to a leader who has some knowledge of how to do things, but will he step up and do the right thing when it’s time, even though he hasn’t as yet.

      I think it all bears us paying attention all around. sigh Yet another thing (WWIII, which I concede is not yet) our current POTUS said would happen if the Dems won. Every accusation is a confession. Community gets more important every day.

      Thank you, Annie!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Hi Roger. I am going back through the old comments to try to keep up to date and reply to those I missed. I understand this is Ali’s post but I am confused as to what you wrote. Do you mind expanding it for me? Thanks if you do, and hugs.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. Hi Scottie
          Certainly.
          I was referring to Annie’s comment Scary times. “Oh, how I wish we had national leadership up to these circumstances!”
          I should really have started with ‘A common lament’ – my fault. My reply was a wish that you would have a president focused on speaking to and therefore uniting all of The People for The People and not just their voter basis.
          The three presidents I cited did make attempts to talk to the ‘other side’ and did sometimes win folk over (if only temporarily)
          As opposed to this fellow who defaults to pleasing the reactionary mob.
          Take care
          Roger

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply

          1. Hi Roger. Now I understand and yes you are correct. Thank you. The corruption had not gone so deep in the body politics. I was just missing the context as I did not know who you were replying to. One reason I do my replies with the commenters name so people can follow the back and forth. Hugs

            Liked by 2 people

            Reply

  2. Euro view:
    Why am I not surprised?
    Since the Cold War the RAF has frequently been sent to ‘escort’ Russian aircraft from British space, another parallel were the Russian ‘trawlers’ packed with intelligence gathering equipment (They even warranted their own plastic model construction kit manufactured by Revell)
    British soldiers serving in Germany during the Cold War were supplied with a booklet on the procedure to follow when encountering Russian observers to NATO exercises who had ‘strayed’.

    This time they ramped up the stakes somewhat to see what would happen.
    Polish and Dutch aircraft shot down drones
    And NATO enacted Article 4
    Now we wait to see what happens during “Zapad,” 2025

    Trump continues to demonstrate he is completely out of his depth. He won’t have liked this.
    https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2025-07-17/nato-must-be-prepared-for-wars-18470191.html

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. The USA was born out of a revolution and has usually happens there was a Civil War in the aftermath. The USA got lucky, all it had to do was sacrifice the African Americans south of the Mason-Dixon line (and a few border places), the Native Americans and Latinos.

        Now the tides which fashion History are coming back and too many folk seem to think the USA is unique and all will be well.
        Maybe you will get lucky again though the path will ben rough now.
        Trump would normally have been spiked when insulting John McCain he insulted every other American shot down over Vietnam but got a free pass because a large portion of folk wanted an action toy and found it in the bargain basement of US politics. So it’s not just Trump or any of the current crop around him, it is a mindset and that will take hard work to overcome.
        (We have a set of not dissimilar problems over on this side of the Atlantic- though things will play differently here 25+ nations all with spikey ideas of their own nationhood and independence AND Russia to worry about)

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. Hi Roger, you say that they “because a large portion of folk wanted an action toy and found it in the bargain-basement of US politics”. Is more on spot than I like to admit for my country. Why do most of the tRump cult claim to follow him? They say he speaks like they do. Which means they are as low education and as racist bigoted as they are. They love this low IQ hateful idiot president because they feel he is like them, representing people like him. Hugs

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply

          1. I agree Scottie.
            They have found someone who will do as most of them want, or think they want.
            It will only be when one section of his support base wakes up to the fact that Trump was born of privilege and when it comes down to it will always be ‘Of Privilege’, not really caring what happens to folk at the other end of the scale, just so long as they support him.
            A very unhappy state of affairs.

            Take care you guys.
            Roger & Sheila.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

      2. Hi Ali. Yes scary indeed. Plus the Russians have been flying military aircraft in to US airspace in several areas also. But what is worrying to me is how tRump is able to talk tough about Putin but totally shakes with fear at doing anything that will piss Putin off. I have several ideas why but proof is only in tRump’s actions. On sanctions he is being pushed by a republican lead bipartisan bill to force him to sanction Russia and countries that do businesses with Russia. tRump now says he will only sanction Russia and Putin if ALL NATO countries put their own full sanctions on Russia along with ending all trade in any way with any country that does trade with Russia. That is never going to happen because Egypt and Türkiye are NATO members with very close relationships with Putin. They have extensive trade deals and are anti-NATO. If only there was a way to remove these countries from NATO. Hugs

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    2. Hi Roger. In my short time in the US Navy before I went into the army I got taught about these trawlers. They try to shadow our carriers and any time the US ships did an operation. I got to see a couple up close from the destroyer I was on. They are super brightly lighted up, so they try to bother landing planes and other optics due to these super bright lights. But what was worse was the spy stuff on board. Of course they claim to be simple fishing vessels in places no real fishing vessel would be. I was on the bridge in my station when one started to get too close to a carrier we were guarding and it was interfering with the landing planes. I don’t know if the admiral on the carrier directed it or if my own captain did, but we warned them off and changed course directly at them. It was my job to keep track of the distance between ships / keep the acting con officer informed / and listen to instructions from my own people in the Command Center. The “fishing boat” dropped pretence as we bore down on them and took off for international waters … fast.

      But on that have you ever heard the joke about the lighthouse and the naval ship? Because I was involved in something similar. The joke is that a naval vessel is contacted via radio to change course due to possible collision. The navy ship replied no we are the US navy you change your course. The joke goes on for a bunch of times of each demanding the other change course. Until the first sending party says “OK this is the lighthouse at XXX and we are an Island but you do what you think you need to do to prove how powerful you are, we will alert the authorities to send help”. I went through something similar while on the bridge of the USS Kincaid. A USSR trawler got right in front of the aircraft carrier we were escorting. The captain of my vessel radioed his intent to intercept and we got the reply. “Negative Kincaid resume position, Trawler this is an XXX ton US Carrier and we will simply run you over … your choice”. The trawler moved out of the way really fast. Cold War games that Putin seems driven to bring back. Hugs

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Hi Scottie.
        I liked that joke😄There have been a couple of US admirals that could have been applied to
        Reminds me of an exchange of signals between US and British ships just after WWII .
        US signal: How is the second biggest navy doing?
        British: We are alright. How is the second-best?

        And your experience is a classic Cold War exchange. Mind you in those days both sides had reasonable idea what the other side would do.
        Whereas Putin is acting according to an old Russian playbook the same cannot be said of Trump who does not have a clue how the game is played.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. Hi Roger. Thank you for the naval joke. I love it, the quick wit of those seeing a younger smart ass hotshot thinking they know it all. You are correct that tRump is clueless as to the Cold War strategies and tRump seems to be proving he is totally terrified to piss off Putin. On sanctions he is being pushed by a republican lead bipartisan bill to force him to sanction Russia and countries that do businesses with Russia. tRump now says he will only sanction Russia and Putin if ALL NATO countries put their own full sanctions on Russia along with ending all trade in any way with any country that does trade with Russia. That is never going to happen because Egypt and Türkiye are NATO members with very close relationships with Putin. They have extensive trade deals and are anti-NATO. If only there was a way to remove these countries from NATO. Best wishes always and hugs.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          1. Alliances, diplomacy and International Relations are murky things where ethics and morality tend to take a back seat.
            In the series West Wing senior aide Leo McGarry once says ‘There are two things you do not want to be seeing made, sausages and international policy’ – the original comes in various versions and is attributed to the German statesman Bismarck.

            This about sums up what International Relations are all about. The most astute and deft example of recent times being Kissinger & Nixon’s partnership in dealing with the Communist nations- little in ethics, morality or anything noble going on there, but arguably they got the job done; at the cost of other small nations and their people’s lives. Not the first example by any means.

            Sad and unhappy world Scottie.

            Take care you guys.
            Roger

            PS: Trump is so far out of his depth. Out there the political sharks of other nations are circling.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  3. Cause and effect, chain of events, it all makes perfect sense … When you realize Trump is a Russian Asset; he works for Russia, not America. It may look like the three stooges but it’s a concentrated effort to deliberately destroy the United States …

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. I posted this here back in December. It seemed to escape notice. Several weeks ago, I reposted, again it seemed to escape notice. I put it in a comment pertinent to the subject discussed on one or another place where I read, where it got noticed, but no comment, which, honestly, if I’d seen it like that I wouldn’t know what to say, either. But I am, obviously, a ponder-things-in-my-heart person. Here it is again.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    3. There was a comment from Ten Bears in regard to the story I mention below, but while I have the email, I cannot find the comment here. I don’t know what happened. The email shows:

      “I remember. I avoid posting on that particular topic because it is so easily misunderstood”

      I think I get what he’s saying. The part I’m pondering is the group’s focus switch to planning for war.

      I hope it’s all right I did this. The comment seems to have disappeared.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

          1. Hi. I guess I have been gone too long and too out of the conversation but … I have no idea what you guys are talking about. That is OK, I am often clueless in life going by the “seat of my pants”, but I am very happy you guys are doing comments / replies as it means the blog is reaching people and making a difference. Best wishes to all and hugs to those that want them.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

            1. I think I’m hitting the pad on my Chromebook, not purposely and not even noticeably, until something weird happens. I think I caught that the other night. Since my keyboard is up higher than it used to be with a desktop, that’s gonna happen, I guess. I am sorry, and am working on better keyboarding habits!

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

    4. Hi Ten Bears. Yes you are so correct. Horrifying we / our country came too. Did you see what he said about sanctions on Russia and Russian companies? After all his big talk about doing things to sanction Russia tRump is caught between the rock and hard place. So he created this fiction. tRump now says he will only sanction Russia and Putin if ALL NATO countries put their own full sanctions on Russia along with ending all trade in any way with any country that does trade with Russia. That is never going to happen because Egypt and Türkiye are NATO members with very close relationships with Putin. They have extensive trade deals and are anti-NATO. If only there was a way to remove these countries from NATO. Best wishes always and Hugs.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Hi Michael. I remember that. It was as I remember never reported in the US media over if it was a Ukrainian drone or Russian one. But there is no doubt over the drone incursion into former USSR controlled territory recently happening. Knowing he owns tRump Putin is emboldened to attack or threaten NATO countries. For him even getting these countries to feel fear and to change their spending to fight him is a win for him as his intel units attack the governments for cutting back on what they can give to the public in social services. Scary times. Hugs

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to Ten Bears Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.