Keir Starmer releases statement after Russian drones shot down in Polish airspace

Poland has asked Nato to trigger Article 4

Polish armed forces shot down Russian drones after they entered Nato airspace, in what Poland called an ‘unprecedented airspace violation’.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk subsequently asked to invoke Nato’s Article 4 after the country's military shot down Russian drones that had violated its airspace.

The nation scrambled its air defences, with the Polish army’s operational command saying the drones “posed a real threat” to Polish citizens.

Now, in response, PM Keir Starmer has since released a statement condemning Russia's actions.

He said: "This morning's barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones is deeply concerning.

"This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin's blatant disregard for peace."

He continued to say that he had been in contact with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and thanked Nato.

Russian drones entered Polish airspace amid a bombardment of Ukraine, which left one dead.

Tusk said: “Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down.

“I am in constant communication with the secretary general of Nato and our allies.”

He has since warned that Poland is the closest to armed conflict than any time since the end of the Second World War.

“There is no reason to claim that we are in a state of war… but the situation is significantly more dangerous than all previous ones,” he added.

Tusk has since formally asked Nato to invoke Article 4, which allows member states to ‘consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened’.

Invoking Article 4 is seen as a starting point to major operations, and will see members meet to discuss the threat.

A meeting will see them decide whether to invoke Article 5, which means Nato sees an attack against one member as an attack against them all.

Russia has responded to accusations of their drones entering Polish airspace, and said they are 'groundless'.

"We believe that the claims are groundless. There has been no evidence that these drones are of Russian provenance," Andrey Ordash told RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency.