Poland, Allies Deploy Planes Over Drone Threat to Ukraine

Polish and allied aircraft were deployed Saturday in what officials described as a preventive operation to guard the nation's airspace in response to the threat of drone strikes in neighboring areas of Ukraine. In addition, the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed, the AP reports. The two-hour alert was raised three days after Poland said multiple Russian drones crossed into its airspace, prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about the expansion of Russia's war on Ukraine.

The Polish military's operational command posted Saturday on X that ground-based air defense and reconnaissance systems were on high alert. "These actions are preventative in nature and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened area," the command's statement said, per Reuters. The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said Lublin Airport was closed to air traffic "due to military aviation activities," and the government security center warned of a threat of air attack for several border counties in the region. Later Saturday, per the AP, the military's operational command wrote on X that the operation had been completed and that ground-based defense and reconnaissance systems had returned to normal.