Russian Drones Near the Ukrainian Border Alarm Poland; 2 Airports Closed and Fighter Jets Scrambled

Airports in Poland have suspended flights due to Russian attacks near the border with western Ukraine.

The government also issued an air-attack threat alert for residents of two eastern Poland regions.

“These measures are of a preventive nature and aim to secure and protect the airspace, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened regions,” the Polish armed forces’ operational command wrote on X.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki is reported to convene a meeting on Friday to discuss the country’s security situation amid rising tensions.

The meeting will be attended by Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the national defense minister, and General Wieslaw Kukula, chief of the general staff of the Polish armed forces.

Russia has tested NATO’s resolve in recent weeks with a rise in attacks near the Polish border. It is the second time Lublin and Rzeszow have suspended flights within a two-day period.

On Wednesday, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) closed both airports and scrambled fighter jets after Russia launched drones against Ukraine.

Ground-based air defense and radar systems were also activated shortly after 7 a.m. local time, DORSZ said on X.

The measure was a precaution to protect Polish airspace, particularly along the border zone, DORSZ added. The operation was canceled shortly after 8 a.m.

It followed air-attack alerts in Ukraine’s Volyn Oblast, which borders Poland, from 6:46 a.m. to 7:16 a.m. local time.

Last weekend, Boris Johnson was on a train traveling from Ukraine to Poland when the railway line was targeted by a Russian drone.

The former prime minister was returning from a security conference in Kyiv when he was woken by guards at 5 a.m. on Sunday and told to prepare for evacuation.

The warning was issued after another passenger train behind Mr. Johnson’s was attacked in Volyn, just over a mile from the Polish border.

An all-clear was given soon after when no further drones were detected, allowing Mr. Johnson’s train to continue its journey. He remained unharmed.

The attack was one of two Russian strikes near the Polish border overnight, after a truck was hit 800 meters from the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing, one of the most important links with the EU.

Polish fighter jets were scrambled and an emergency alert was issued.