Polish airspace violated by drones during Russian strikes, Dutch F-35s scrambled

Two incursions of Polish airspace by drones occurred overnight from September 2 to 3, 2025, during a large-scale Russian strike against Ukraine. The Polish Armed Forces confirmed the violations but said the unmanned aerial vehicles posed no danger and left the country without causing damage.

“We had two airspace violations,” General Maciej Klisz, Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, told Reuters on September 4. “These two violations were under the full control of national forces and units assigned to the state defence system.”

General Wiesław Kukuła, Chief of the General Staff, added that the drones exited Polish airspace without incident. 

Alerts from Ukraine, Russian overnight barrage

The Polish armed forces did not disclose where the drones entered. However, several Ukrainian Telegram channels linked to air defense monitoring issued early warnings of drones near Sambir, western Ukraine, that were possibly headed toward Poland around 04:00 local time.

According to Ukrainian officials, Russia launched more than 500 Shahed drones and dozens of missiles that night, hitting energy and transport infrastructure in 14 regions and injuring four railway workers.

Dutch F-35s scrambled

The Royal Netherlands Air Force confirmed that two of its F-35s stationed in Poland were scrambled after NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem identified a threat to allied airspace.

“The intention was to destroy the Russians’ unmanned projectiles when crossing an allied border,” the Dutch Ministry of Defence said. “Weapon deployment turned out not to be necessary.”

The Netherlands took over an air policing mission on August 31, 2025, rotating its F-35s to Poland as part of NATO’s eastern flank defense.

Poland on high alert after past incidents

Poland has been on heightened alert for aerial intrusions since November 2022, when a stray Ukrainian interceptor missile killed two civilians in the border village of Przewodów.

More recently, on August 20, 2025, an unidentified object exploded in a cornfield near the village of Osiny, damaging three buildings. While the Polish Armed Forces initially suggested it could be part of an old aircraft engine, prosecutors later said preliminary findings pointed to a military drone, possibly damaged by explosives.

The Osiny case followed earlier incidents elsewhere along NATO’s eastern border, including Russian-designed Gerbera drones that entered Lithuanian airspace in July 2025, one of which overflew Vilnius before crashing at a military training ground with an explosive payload.

With their low-cost and radar-evasive construction, such drones remain a persistent challenge for NATO’s air defense posture.The post Polish airspace violated by drones during Russian strikes, Dutch F-35s scrambled appeared first on AeroTime.

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