Air raid sirens are no longer just wailing in Ukraine. Polish authorities have issued an air raid threat alert for several eastern districts of the Lublin region. The reason: a drone attack in Ukraine, just across the border. Poland preemptively deployed its fighter jets and closed Lublin Airport. Almost at the same time, a drone violated Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine.
The municipality of Chelm, located near the Ukrainian border, and the municipality of Widnik, near the city of Lublin, announced on social media that, due to the air threat, an order had been issued to activate warning sirens. In towns and villages across six counties, residents received this message:"Air attack threat. Take extreme precautions. Follow the instructions of the authorities. Wait for further instructions."
The alert was sent to recipients in the following counties: Chelm, Chelm, Krasnystaw, Lczna, Widnica, and Wlodawa, the Government Security Center reported.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, NATO troops fired at Russian targets that had violated the alliance's airspace.
Next in line for skies was Romania, a member state of the European Union and NATO that shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine."The drone did not fly over inhabited areas and did not pose an immediate danger to the population," authorities said. Romanian authorities also sent an alert on Saturday to residents of the Tulcea district, on the border with Ukraine, warning of a possible fall of flying objects.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drone flew 10 kilometers into Romanian territory and remained in NATO airspace for 50 minutes.
NATO announced plans on Friday to strengthen its defenses on Europe's eastern flank after Poland shot down drones that violated its airspace, the first known such shots fired by a member of the Western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine.
Romania has also repeatedly suffered fragments from Russian drones falling on its territory since Russia began declaring war on its neighbor. Romanian lawmakers passed a law earlier this year allowing the military to shoot down drones that illegally violate Romanian airspace in peacetime, depending on the threat level and risks to human life and property, but the bill is not yet in force.
"RUSSIA KNOWS WHERE ITS DRONES ARE"
Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced on Saturday that he was being kept informed of the preventive surveillance of Polish airspace. Polish and allied fighter jets that were deployed returned to their bases without opening fire."The state of emergency has been lifted. I thank everyone involved in the operation, both in the air and on the ground. We remain vigilant," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Lublin Airport resumed flights shortly before 7 p.m.
Zelensky said Russian drones flew in Ukraine throughout the day, including in the northern regions near the border with Belarus. Poland deployed its fighter jets when Ukraine declared alerts in the neighboring Volhynia region, as well as some alerts in the south and north of the country.
"The Russian military knows exactly where its drones are going and how long they can stay in the air. Their routes are always calculated. This cannot be a coincidence, a mistake, or the initiative of low-ranking commanders. This is a clear expansion of the war by Russia, and this is precisely its modus operandi. First small steps, then big losses," Zelensky wrote on the X platform.
