Poland closes airports following Russian strikes on western Ukraine

Poland closed four airports including its main Chopin Airport in Warsaw on Wednesday, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration, after Russia launched drone strikes near the border in neighbouring Ukraine.

Poland’s armed forces said in a post on X that military aircraft had been activated to ensure airspace safety, although there was no official confirmation from the command that any airports had been closed.

“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” the military’s operational command said in a post on X.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said the Rzeszow–Jasionka Airport in Poland’s southeast, a hub for passenger and arms transfers to Ukraine, was among the airports that had been temporarily closed.

Earlier, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian drones had entered NATO-member Poland’s airspace, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but it subsequently removed that statement from the Telegram messaging app.

Poland’s Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request to comment.

In the United States, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones were a sign that “Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”

“After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored,” he said on X.

Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people, a few months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But there have been no reports of Polish or allied defence systems destroying drones.

As of 0120 GMT, most of Ukraine, including western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, had been under air raid alerts for several hours, according to Ukraine’s air force.

Ukrainian media reported that several Russian drones crossed into Poland’s air space. Reuters could not independently verify the reports, and there was no official confirmation from Poland that Russian drones were in Poland’s airspace overnight.