Moscow’s denials notwithstanding, it appears that this week’s drone incursion into Poland’s airspace was deliberate, as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has asserted. Five drones appeared to have been headed toward Rzeszow Airport, NATO’s primary hub for transferring supplies to Ukraine. In response, Poland scrambled F-16 aircraft, and received support from Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS, German Patriots and NATO Multi-Role Tanker Transport. Poland and its allies shot down at least four of the drones and 14 additional drones landed on Polish territory.

The Russian denials have taken several forms, including assertions that the incursions were accidental or that they did not take place at all. But the fact that so many drones penetrated Polish airspace undermines those claims. So too does the fact that those drones that were not shot down landed in several Polish regions, hardly a likely outcome if their targeting was purely accidental.

NATO’s response was commendable, but it also underscored the need to bolster defenses along the alliance’s eastern border. Many of the drones were decoys, which Russia has used in the Ukraine war to wear out air defenses. It was telling that NATO had to employ highly expensive, capable systems to attack cheap drones; the alliance does not have the ability to assess the nature of an attack and respond accordingly.

© The Hill