Drones over Poland and Romania: the days before 14 September

What had happened on NATO's eastern flank in the days leading up to 14 September 2025, and why were allied jets repeatedly in the air? The answer lay in a cluster of Russian drone incursions during attacks on Ukraine.

The night of 10 September

The most serious episode came overnight into 10 September, when 19 Russian drones penetrated up to 250 km into Polish airspace during an air attack on Ukraine. The Polish Air Force and NATO allies scrambled fighter jets in response.

The Polish Armed Forces confirmed that they had shot down four Russian drones over the country. As reported at the time, it was the first occasion since the start of the war on which Poland had directly engaged Russian military assets.

Poland also closed several airports because of the breach, among them Warsaw Modlin, Rzeszów–Jasionka and Lublin. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty following the incursion.

Border measures on 11 September

On 11 September, Poland indefinitely closed its border with Belarus and deployed 40,000 troops to it. Warsaw cited security concerns over Russian–Belarusian military exercises near the region, the first such exercises since 2022.

The weekend of 13–14 September

The pressure did not ease. On 13 September, a Russian drone breached Romanian airspace, and NATO forces scrambled fighter jets. Lublin Airport in eastern Poland was closed again, for the second time that week, because of the threat of Russian drones.

Taken together, the events of 10 to 13 September meant that two NATO members had faced airspace violations within days of each other. By 14 September 2025, allied air forces were responding to incursions on more than one part of the alliance's eastern border, and civilian aviation in eastern Poland was being disrupted repeatedly.