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Evidence Shows Russia Prepared Drone Strikes on Poland Months in Advance
Russia’s drone strike on Poland this week was no sudden escalation. Evidence shows the Kremlin had been preparing for such cross-border attacks since at least July, when Polish SIM cards were discovered inside Russian drones shot down in Ukraine.
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia’s drone strike on Poland did not come out of nowhere. Evidence suggests the Kremlin had been preparing for such cross-border operations for months, according to an investigation by the Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express on September 10.
As early as July, reports surfaced in Poland that SIM cards from Polish mobile operators were being found inside Russian drones shot down over Ukraine.
Footage shows the moment Poland downed a Russian drone. pic.twitter.com/o0lLLO3auD
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 10, 2025
The detail pointed to Moscow’s testing of drone connectivity with Polish mobile networks—an alarming indicator of long-term planning for flights across Polish territory, Defense Express stated.
Leaked report warned of cross-border drone activity
Polish journalist Marek Budzisz published information on July 2 based on a leaked report containing detailed data about where the drones had been downed.
That report also revealed that one Russian drone carried a Lithuanian SIM card, further suggesting that Moscow was probing connectivity in both Poland and Lithuania.
“The discovery of SIM cards from Polish and Lithuanian providers in Russian long-range strike drones must be shared with partners in Poland and Lithuania,” the report stated. A week later, the information was already in the hands of Polish media.
Ukraińcy donoszą, że w zestrzelonych rosyjskich dronach uderzeniowych odkryto SIM - karty z Polski i z Litwy. Może to ich zdaniem oznaczać albo przygotowanie do testowania korytarzy uderzeniowych na obydwa kraje, bo wiadomo, że używają oni sieci telekomórkowych aby korygować tor…
— Marek Budzisz (@MBudzisz2) July 10, 2025
Yet the revelations stirred little debate in Poland, even though Russian drones had already begun crossing into Polish airspace during the summer, Defense Express noted.
On August 20, one crashed and exploded near the village of Osiny in Lublin voivodeship—just 25 miles from an air base that hosts NATO’s air patrol.
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Drone tech enables real-time reconnaissance
The use of mobile internet allows Russian drones to transmit reconnaissance data, adjust flight paths, and, in some cases, capture information on air defense and electronic warfare systems.
Visual feeds from onboard cameras can also be transmitted in real time. This technology has been widely employed against Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Defense Express analysts said that it remains unclear whether the drones that struck Poland this week carried such equipment. However, it is reasonable to assume that one of Moscow’s objectives was to probe Poland’s air defense readiness—especially with large-scale Russian-Belarusian military exercises, Zapad-2025, set to begin in Belarus on September 12.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv is prepared to assist Poland in building a warning and protection system against Russian attacks, stressing the need for a pan-European approach to air defense.
