A country on NATO‘s eastern flank was on high alert for several hours as Russia carried out a massive aerial attack on Ukraine.
Poland‘s forces were forced to closely monitor the country’s border with war-torn Ukraine as Vladimir Putin‘s troops pummelled it with drones and missiles.
In a message warning Polish nationals living in the southeastern part of the country the presence of jets could result in increased noise levels, the Operational Command of Poland’s Armed Forces said in the early hours of June 1: “The Operational Command of the Armed Forces is observing intense long-range aviation activity of the Russian Federation tonight, related to air and missile strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine.”
The statement, published on X, added all “necessary procedures to ensure the safety of the Polish airspace” had been launched.
Three hours later, the command issued an update, saying: “It was a long, busy night for the entire air defence system in Poland.”
Following a “reduced level of threat of missile strikes by Russian aviation on the territory of Ukraine“, the operation involving NATO aircraft in Poland had ended.
The message also read: “A massive long-range missile attack by the Russian Federation covered the entire territory of Ukraine, including the regions bordering Poland.
“The strikes were carried out using cruise missiles, Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles launched from the Black Sea region.”
During the early hours of Saturday, Russia targeted once again Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to the war-torn country. Ukraine‘s largest private energy company DTEK said two of its thermal power plants had suffered “serious damage”.
The widespread attack reportedly prompted air alerts to be sounded across the whole of Ukraine, including in areas bordering Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
Poland’s Armed Forces previously deployed fighter jets on the night between May 25 and 26 to ensure the country’s airspace remained unbreached.
NATO’s fears that Russian missiles may breach the airspace of countries neighbouring Ukraine are not unfounded.
In March, Poland claimed a Russian cruise missile entered its airspace for nearly 40 seconds during another airstrike against Ukraine. A similar incident, which prompted the Polish Foreign Ministry to summon Russian charge d’affaires Andrei Ordash, had happened in late December.