NATO has unveiled a new “Eastern Sentry” operation to reinforce the defense of Europe’s eastern flank following a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace this week, Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Friday.
The Dutch official said the initiative will begin in the coming days and use assets from Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and other NATO allies who are willing to participate in the process.
Rutte said Eastern Sentry would “add flexibility and strength” to NATO’s posture and underlined that the drone incident that took place on Wednesday was “dangerous and unacceptable”, adding it was “not an isolated incident”. He warned that Russia’s “recklessness in the air” along NATO’s eastern frontier is occurring with increasing frequency.
What is NATO willing to do to protect its Eastern front
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, described Eastern Sentry as “flexible and agile”. He said the package will bring enhanced capabilities, integrate air- and ground-based defences, and expand information-sharing among allies. While the full construct will take time to assemble, the first measures will start “immediately”, he noted.
According to the alliance, Denmark is contributing two F-16 fighter jets and an anti-air warfare frigate, France is sending three Rafale jets, and Germany is deploying four Eurofighter aircraft. Grynkewich said that although the immediate focus is on Poland, “what affects one ally affects us all”, and NATO will “defend every inch of its territory”.
The operation’s boundaries will span the entire eastern flank “from the high north to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean”, Grynkewich said. He added that NATO will continually adjust its posture to keep adversaries off balance and respond to specific threats as they emerge.
In Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the drone incursion an “attack” and said it was not a mistake, hours after US President Donald Trump suggested the violation could have been accidental.
Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president’s International Policy Office, told local media that Poland has information indicating as many as 21 drones were launched on Wednesday and that some may have crossed the border more than once.
Polish officials previously reported 19 intrusions, with a large share entering from Moscow’s closer ally, Belarus. Interior ministry figures said 16 drones were found across the country, with debris recovered over an area covering hundreds of square miles.
Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, the United States joined dozens of governments in a statement expressing “grave concern” over Russia’s actions. From New York, Poland’s Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki called the move a provocation, while US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said intensified strikes on Ukraine and the breach of Polish airspace showed “immense disrespect” for efforts to end the conflict.
Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya argued Poland “hastily blamed” Moscow and claimed the drones’ maximum range made it “physically impossible” for them to reach Polish territory. Rutte said NATO’s assessment of the incident is ongoing but stressed that, deliberate or not, Russian actions violated NATO airspace — precisely what Eastern Sentry is designed to deter.
