On August 26, when Russia had just launched a massive attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the Polish operational forces command announced that a Russian “flying device” had flown over Poland.
“We are likely dealing with the entry of a flying device into Polish territory. At least three radar stations confirmed the object’s presence, said General Maciej Klisz, the head of the command. He seemed confident in his assessment. “Its characteristics show that it is not a missile—hypersonic, ballistic, or guided,” he specified, suggesting that it was likely a “kamikaze” drone, probably of the Shahed-136 or Geran-2 type.
Then, Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, the spokesperson for the operational forces command, explained that “weather conditions did not allow the situation to be visualized,” even though “everything was ready to neutralize this object.” In other words, it had not been possible to definitively identify the “flying device,” whose trace was subsequently lost. Despite thorough searches covering more than 250 square kilometers, attempts to locate it have been unsuccessful since then.
Did the Polish radar operators see something that wasn’t there, or were they dealing with a “false positive”? In any case, ten days later, General Klisz walked back his initial statements. “Following the analysis” of satellite and radar data, as well as documents from allied sources, “there is a very high probability that the airspace of the Republic of Poland was not violated on August 26,” he briefed reporters on September 5. However, he said, “violations of airspace are still likely to occur during Russian attacks on Ukraine.”
This case is reminiscent of the missile found by chance in a forest in the Bydgoszcz region in April 2023. The local press reported that Polish and American surveillance systems had indeed detected the device, a Kh-55 likely used to deceive Ukrainian air defenses, before it fell on December 16, 2022. Moreover, the daily newspaper *Gazeta Wyborcza* reported that a helicopter had flown over the location where the missile was later discovered.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski recently used the alleged violation by a Russian drone to justify Warsaw’s desire to shoot down any hostile aircraft that is about to enter its airspace. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had previously categorically rejected this option, warning that such actions could draw the Alliance into the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Romania
Russian “kamikaze” drones violated Romania’s airspace in September 2023 during attacks on the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Ismail, located in the Danube Delta. Some of these drones even crashed on Romanian territory, but fortunately, no damage occurred. “Such a situation cannot go unanswered,” a Romanian Defense Ministry spokesperson stated. However, the matter was dropped afterward.
A year later, Bucharest adopted a different tone. On September 8, at 2:25 a.m., two of its F-16 fighter jets took off from the Borcea Air Base following the intrusion of a drone into Romanian airspace. The drone then headed towards Ukraine and supposedly crashed in an uninhabited area near the Romanian village of Periprava. This sequence ended at 4:08 a.m.
Romanian forces “are conducting investigations in the area with aerial and ground teams. Allied structures have been informed of the situation’s evolution,” stated the Romanian Defense Ministry before “strongly condemning these unjustified Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which are in grave violation of international law.”
The duration of this incident—nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes—raises questions. In addition to the potential use of Romanian airspace for an attack in Ukraine, it’s plausible that the drone was also carrying out a reconnaissance mission over Romania, specifically in the regions of Tulcea and Constanța, home to NATO’s multinational task force.
“Although we have no information suggesting a deliberate Russian attack on allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” reacted Mircea Geoana, NATO’s outgoing Deputy Secretary General and former Romanian Foreign Minister, via the social media platform X.
Latvia
However, Polant and Romania are not the only NATO and European Union member to report a violation of its airspace. On the same day, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs announced that a “Russian military drone (…) had crashed” in the east of his country. “An investigation is underway,” he added, noting that “the number of such incidents is increasing along NATO’s eastern flank” and emphasizing that “we must address them collectively.”
Latvia’s Defense Ministry later clarified that a “drone,” originating from Belarus, had crashed near the town of Rēzekne, located 100 km from the Russian and Belarusian borders—far from the fighting in Ukraine. If this drone is indeed Russian, as the Latvian president claims, this violation was likely intentional.
“The national armed forces detected the drone flying over Latvian territory and monitored its movements. They have located the crash site. The investigation is ongoing,” the ministry added. How long did this violation last? No information was provided.
“This situation confirms that we must continue our efforts to strengthen Latvia’s eastern border, particularly by developing air defense and electronic warfare capabilities to limit drone activity,” stated Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūde.