UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will convene on Friday at Poland’s request after it accused Russia of violating its airspace by carrying out a drone raid on Polish territory, the Council’s South Korean presidency said Thursday.
The meeting, which will take place at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT), has been endorsed by several other members of the Council, including Britain, France, and Slovenia, according to diplomatic sources, cited by AFP.
Moscow denied targeting the country and said there was no evidence the drones were Russian. The Russian Defence Ministry, cited by TASS news agency, stated that no facilities in Poland were planned to be targeted.
Russian military agency, cited by TASS, said that Russian forces had carried out a strike on Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises in the Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky and Zhitomir regions, as well as on the cities of Vinnitsa and Lvov.
The Russian Defence Ministry stated that Moscow is ready to hold consultations with Polish authorities on this matter.
“However, we are ready to hold consultations with the Polish Defence Ministry on this matter,” the Russian Defence Ministry emphasised as quoted by TASS.
Poland said the incident was not accidental, branding it an “unprecedented” attack on Poland, NATO and the European Union.
The incident was “an attempt to test the mechanism of action within NATO and our readiness to respond”, Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Thursday during a visit to an airbase in western Poland.
Polish officials say drones violated its airspace 19 times, but there were no casualties and the damage was limited — a house and a car were destroyed.
Poland boosts security
Poland boosted its security on Thursday, closing air traffic along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine to civilian flights up to an altitude of three kilometres (1.9 miles) until December 9.
The PAZP air traffic control agency announced that drones would also be banned.
The country had already announced ramped-up measures on the Belarus border to cope with military drills the country is carrying out with its ally Russia between September 12 and 16.
The few open border crossings with Belarus would be closed from Friday over the Zapad (“West”) drills.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Wednesday that the drone raid marked an unprecedented escalation of tension with Russia.
“This situation… brings us closer than ever to open conflict since World War II,” he said as he briefed the lawmakers.
Tusk called a NATO meeting on Wednesday, invoking Article 4 under which a member can call urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk — only the eighth time the measure has been used.
A cornerstone of NATO is the principle that an attack on any member is deemed an attack on all.
NATO chief Mark Rutte denounced Moscow’s “reckless behaviour” and hailed his organisation’s “very successful reaction”, telling journalists the alliance’s air defences had done their job.
Unity ‘reaffirmed’
The raid was also condemned by Poland’s allies. Both the European Union and Ukraine called it a test of the alliance’s resolve.
“Russia’s reckless violation of Polish airspace threatens our European security,” said Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel on X.
He had summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn Moscow’s actions, he added.
Nawrocki said late on Wednesday he had spoken by phone to his US counterpart Donald Trump as “part of a series of consultations” with allies.
