Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones, Invokes NATO’s Article 4
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Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO intercepting Russian drones over Poland, the rise of France’s Block Everything movement, and deadly anti-government protests in Nepal.
NATO fighter jets shot down several Russian drones after more than a dozen entered Polish airspace on Wednesday. Although Moscow denies responsibility, Ukraine’s Western allies have leapt to use the incident as a reminder of the threat that Russia poses to the larger European continent.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO intercepting Russian drones over Poland, the rise of France’s Block Everything movement, and deadly anti-government protests in Nepal.
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NATO fighter jets shot down several Russian drones after more than a dozen entered Polish airspace on Wednesday. Although Moscow denies responsibility, Ukraine’s Western allies have leapt to use the incident as a reminder of the threat that Russia poses to the larger European continent.
This was the first time that alliance fighters have engaged enemy targets in allied airspace since NATO’s founding in 1949. According to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Polish F-16s, Dutch F-35s, Italian surveillance planes, and NATO mid-air refueling aircraft detected 19 foreign objects above Poland. At least one of the drones collided with a two-story brick home in the eastern Polish village of Wyryki-Wola, though no casualties were reported there or elsewhere in Poland.
The appearance of drones over Poland coincided with a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, with as many as 415 drones being launched in the assault, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Russian drones have crossed into Poland before, including at least twice last week. However, Moscow maintained that it has no plans to target objects on Polish territory and asserted—incorrectly—that Poland is beyond the flight range of Russian drones. “These specific facts completely debunk the myths that Poland is once again spreading to further escalate the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Such a denial, though, goes against an initial suggestion by Russian ally Belarus, which framed the incident as the drones accidentally veering off course upon facing electronic warfare........
© Foreign Policy
