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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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The Russian embassy in Poland dismissed Warsaw's accusations that Russian drones had violated Polish airspace, telling Newsweek it had not provided any evidence.
Poland, a NATO ally, said 19 Russian drones crossed into its territory amid an attack on western Ukraine and that some had to be shot down. It triggered NATO's Article 4 mechanism in response, which formally alerts fellow allies to a significant threat and starts a consultation on how to respond.
"The Polish side once again failed to present evidence of the Russian origin of the objects that entered Polish airspace (and there is no reason to expect that it will), and completely groundlessly accused Russia of provocative actions," the Russian embassy told Newsweek in a statement.
Read More on World
NATO-Russia Tensions Escalate as Trump Seeks Peace
The incident is a significant escalation of tensions between NATO and Russia and inches two nuclear-armed sides closer to a direct conflict amid the Ukraine war.
It also complicates U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal to end the Russian invasion, which, despite his efforts, has intensified in recent weeks.
Trump, frustrated by the lack of progress, has threatened Moscow with additional sanctions and secondary tariffs on its trading partners unless it makes peace soon.
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Kyiv and its European partners will see the Russian drone incident in Poland—which NATO allies have said was a deliberate provocation by Moscow—as a test of Trump's resolve in taking tougher action against Russia.
"What's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones? Here we go!" Trump posted to his Truth Social platform in his first remarks on the incident.
Russia Ally Belarus Blames 'Electronic Warfare Assets'
The Russian Ministry of Defense had earlier said in a statement that it had not planned to target anything in Poland and that it was willing to consult with its Polish counterparts about what happened.
Belarus, one of Russia's closest allies, which borders Ukraine and Poland, said drones fired by both sides in the conflict had been impacted by "electronic warfare assets" that caused them to go astray from their intended paths.
It also said Belarus had destroyed wayward drones over its territory.
Major General Pavel Muraveiko, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in Belarus, said in a statement on Telegram that Belarus had also destroyed wayward drones over its territory.
Europe Calls Russian Drones Violation Deliberate
But German defense minister Boris Pistorius dismissed the suggestion, calling the path of the Russian drones deliberate. "These drones were quite obviously deliberately directed on this course—in order to fly into Ukraine," Pistorius told the Bundestag.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called it the "most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental."
"Russia's war is escalating, not ending," Kallas said in a statement posted to X. "We must raise the cost on Moscow, strengthen support for Ukraine, and invest in Europe's defense."
Updated, 9/10/25, 11:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated with more information.
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