Poland announced Thursday that it will restrict air traffic in the eastern part of the country, a day after reporting that it had shot down several Russian drones that had entered its territory.

Air traffic along Poland's border with Belarus and Ukraine will be closed to civilian flights, with some exceptions, until December 9, the EU and NATO member country's air traffic control agency (PAZP) said in a statement.

The measure is being implemented to ensure national security, he said.

Polish authorities said Wednesday that the NATO and EU member's airspace was violated 19 times that same day, and that at least three drones were shot down when Poland and its NATO allies scrambled fighter jets.

Poland will invoke Article 4

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced before Parliament on Wednesday that his government will invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows any member country to request consultations with its other allies when its security, political independence, or territorial integrity is threatened.

This is not the first time Russian drones have made incursions into Polish airspace, especially in conjunction with offensives in western Ukraine. The Polish military has previously reported numerous reports of such approaches and violations, even leading to the launching of NATO fighter jets to identify and, if necessary, escort the unidentified flying objects out of the territory.