Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commended the use of NATO aircraft to intercept Russian drones over Poland after a Wednesday incursion amid an attack on Ukraine.
“The precedent of using combat aircraft from several European countries simultaneously to shoot down Russian weapons and protect human lives is highly significant,” Zelensky wrote in a statement on the social media platform X.
“Ukraine has long proposed to its partners the creation of a joint air-defense system to ensure the guaranteed downing of “shaheds”, other drones, and missiles through the combined strength of our combat aviation and air defenses,” he continued.
The Kremlin’s move was seen as an escalation, and a NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance has confronted a potential threat in its airspace.
Ukraine said it shot down more than 380 Russian drones of various types, noting at least 250 of them were shaheds, an Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
Zelensky said eight drones were found to cross over into Polish territory. Poland said some of the drones came from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have begun gathering for Friday war games, according to The Associated Press.
“It is clear that Russian aggression poses a danger to every independent nation in our region, and therefore only joint and coordinated action can guarantee reliable security,” the Ukrainian president wrote in his Wednesday post on X.
Baltic states, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have raised concerns with Russia’s growing threat to the sovereignty of Eastern European nations.
“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on social media.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that the drones sent were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”
One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region of Ukraine in the overnight offensive, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, according to the AP.
In response to the violence, Poland said it will invoke NATO’s Article 4, which requires member states to hold consultations whenever one believes its territorial integrity, political independence, or security is threatened.
