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10th September 2025
02:31pm BST
The Kremlin has responded after Poland shot down Russian drones in their own airspace and 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.
The Kremlin has since responded to the situation with the Russian defence ministry releasing a statement.
Russia claimed it did not intend on attacking any targets in Poland following claims from Poland that 19 Russian drones had entered its airspace overnight.
In a daily update on strikes against Ukraine, it said: "No objects on Polish territory were planned to be targeted.
"The maximum range of UAVs used in the strike [on Ukraine] does not exceed 700 km [435 miles].
"Nonetheless, we are ready to hold consultations with the Polish defence ministry on the subject."
Meanwhile, PM Keir Starmer has also 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.
