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Poland Scrambles Jets as Russia Attacks Western Ukraine With Jet-Powered Drones
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Poland scrambled fighter jets overnight on September 15 in response to renewed Russian attacks on western Ukraine involving jet-powered strike drones, Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command reported.
At around 4 a.m., the Operational Command said Polish and allied aircraft had been deployed as Russian jet-powered drones carried out strikes against targets in Ukraine. Ground-based air defense and radar systems were also placed on heightened readiness.
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The measures were taken as a precaution to protect Polish airspace and “aimed at securing airspace and its protection, especially in areas adjacent to threatened regions.”
At around 6:30 a.m., the Operational Command announced that the potential threat had passed and that the forces and systems activated during the alert were returning to standard operational status.
“No violations of Polish airspace were recorded,” the Operational Command said.
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The heightened readiness in Poland came as NATO responded to another aerial incident elsewhere on its eastern flank. Earlier the same night, NATO aircraft intercepted and destroyed an unidentified drone that entered Lithuanian airspace, with preliminary information indicating that it had arrived from Belarus, according to Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.
The drone crossed into Lithuania shortly after midnight, triggering air alerts in several areas. About 30 minutes later, NATO fighter jets operating from the Šiauliai Air Base intercepted and shot down the aircraft over the Kaunas region.
Lithuania’s military said Italian fighter jets carried out the interception. The drone’s wreckage was subsequently found in a rural area, where police cordoned off and secured the site.
The incidents follow another recent airspace breach involving a NATO member. On September 8, Romania deployed two F-18 fighter jets after military radar detected an aerial object entering Romanian airspace at around 4:47 p.m., roughly 18 kilometers north of Roman.
The detection prompted air raid warnings in several nearby communities. Shortly beforehand, at approximately 4:20 p.m., neighboring Moldova reported that a drone, preliminarily identified as a Shahed, had entered its territory.
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