Poland deploys planes in its airspace because of threat of drone strikes in nearby Ukraine

WARSAW Poland AP Polish and allied aircraft were deployed in a preventive operation in Poland s airspace Saturday because of a threat of drone strikes in neighboring areas of Ukraine and the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed executives stated The alert lasted around two hours It came after multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland on Wednesday prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about the expansion of Russia s more than three-year war in Ukraine The Polish military s operational command posted on X on Saturday afternoon that ground-based air defense and reconnaissance systems were on high alert It stressed that these actions are preventive in nature and were aimed at securing Poland s airspace and protecting the country s citizens It cited a threat of drone strikes in regions of Ukraine bordering Poland but didn t give further details Prime Minister Donald Tusk also posted that preventive air operations had begun in Polish airspace because of the threat posed by Russian drones operating over nearby areas of Ukraine The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency noted that Lublin Airport was closed to air traffic due to military aviation initiatives and the ruling body prevention center warned of a threat of air attack for several dividing line counties in the region Later Saturday the military s operational command wrote on X that the operation has been completed and that ground-based defense and reconnaissance systems had returned to normal Russia has explained it didn t target Poland on Wednesday and Moscow s ally Belarus commented that the drones went astray because they were jammed But European leaders have expressed certainty that the incursions were a deliberate provocation by Russia Polish aircraft have been scrambled repeatedly in current months to patrol the country s airspace in connection with Russian airstrikes in Ukraine but those strikes have usually occurred overnight or in the early morning Source