Poland said it had activated its own and NATO air defense assets to shoot down drones that entered its airspace following a Russian air attack on western Ukraine, Reuters reported.

♦ For the first time, Poland resorts to its weapons against objects that violated its airspace

The Polish Armed Forces said drones repeatedly violated Polish airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine. Poland has reportedly informed NATO of the incident.

More than 10 objects were detected on radars and those that posed a risk were neutralized, the Polish forces said."Some of the drones that entered our airspace were shot down. The search and attempts to locate the potential sites where these objects fell are continuing," the armed forces said in a statement.

The Polish military called the violation of Polish airspace an"act of aggression" and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kościńska-Kamiś said Polish aircraft had used weapons "against hostile targets."

"We are in constant contact with NATO command," the minister said on the social network "Ex".

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Poland used weapons this morning to shoot down targets after repeated airspace violations during a Russian attack on Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, as quoted by Reuters.

"An operation is currently underway related to the repeated violations of Polish airspace," Tusk wrote on the "Ex" platform, adding:"The military used weapons against these targets."

Warsaw's Frederic Chopin Airport, the largest in Poland, said its airspace was closed due to military operations.

Poland's interior ministry said seven drones or drone debris had been found, dpa reported. Five drones were found in the eastern Lublin region, a ministry spokesman said. One drone crashed over the Łódź province in central Poland, and another in the Warmian-Masurian province. Debris from a projectile of unknown origin was also found. Police and the army are continuing to search for drones and parts of them, the spokesman added.

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♦ Poland requested consultations under Article 4 of the NATO Treaty

Article 4 provides for consultations if a NATO member country believes that its territorial integrity, independence, or security is threatened.

Donald Tusk said the drones came from Russia. He said it was the first time"Russian drones have been shot down over NATO territory."

There is no information about casualties, but there is damage to real estate.

According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, an armed attack against one member of the alliance is considered an attack against all, and each member is obliged to respond to restore and support the security of the North Atlantic region, DPA reports. At present, it is considered unlikely that Poland will request military assistance under Article 5.

"I want to emphasize very categorically that there is no reason to claim that we are on the brink of war, but there is no doubt that this provocation goes beyond existing borders and is incomparably more dangerous from Poland's perspective than from anyone else's. This situation brings us the closest we have come to an open conflict since World War II," Tusk pointed out.

If it is found that Russia has attacked the territory of a member state, the focus will shift to Article 5, which is the cornerstone of NATO's founding treaty.

The alliance was created in 1949 with the US military as a powerful pillar, primarily to counter the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc satellites during the Cold War.

The Charter states that"the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all."

"They agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the country or countries attacked by taking immediately, individually and in cooperation with the other countries, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the Atlantic area," it said.

How might the war in Ukraine trigger the application of Article 5?

Because Ukraine is not a NATO member, Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 did not trigger Article 5, although the United States and other member states came to the rescue, providing military and diplomatic support to Kiev.

However, experts have long warned of the potential spread of the conflict to neighboring countries on NATO's eastern flank, which could force the alliance to respond militarily.

Such actions by Russia, whether intentional or accidental, increase the risk of expanding the war by drawing other countries directly into the conflict.

Is the application of Article 5 automatic?

No. After an attack on a member state, the others meet to determine whether they agree to consider it an Article 5 situation.

There is no limit on how long these consultations can last, and experts say the wording is flexible enough to allow each member state to decide how to respond to armed aggression against another.

Article 5 has been activated once before by the United States in response to the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington.

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♦ Russia's response

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had not planned an attack on targets in Poland, Reuters reported.

" Targets for striking the territory of Poland were not envisaged," the Russian Defense Ministry said, as quoted by TASS. The agency added that it was ready for consultations with the Polish Defense Ministry"on this topic."

The Russian ministry's statement said that the Russian army had struck Ukrainian military plants in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr regions, as well as in the cities of Vinnytsia and Lviv. The range of the drones, which allegedly entered Polish airspace, did not exceed 700 km, TASS said.

Earlier, the Kremlin refused to comment on Poland's statement that it had shot down Russian drones in its airspace, saying it was a matter for the defense ministry to resolve, Reuters reported.

Asked about the drones and Tusk's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:"As for this case, we would not like to comment in any way. This is not our responsibility - this is the prerogative of the Ministry of Defense."

Peskov said the Kremlin had not received any inquiries from Poland about the incident. The Kremlin spokesman also rejected accusations by the European Union and NATO that Russia had committed a provocation."The EU and NATO leadership accuse Russia of provocations every day. In most cases, without even trying to present any argument," TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

Peskov also warned that sending any foreign troops to Ukraine would have dire consequences, but not all Western countries understand this, TASS reported.

"As always, there are countries that take a reckless position and that either do not understand or do not want to understand the terrible consequences of such hasty actions. There are also countries that understand reality much better," Peskov said, commenting on the plans of the"Coalition of the Willing" to deploy military contingents in Ukraine.

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