Over 90 Russian drones were heading for Poland earlier this month when an unprecedented incursion into the country’s airspace took place, but most were shot down by Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
On the night of September 9-10, around 20 Russian drones flew into Polish skies. Some were shot down by the Polish air force, while others crashed hundreds of kilometers inside the country.
At a briefing on Saturday, Zelensky said Ukraine downed most of the machines over its own territory.
“Some 92 drones flew to Poland,” he said. “We can say that they were flying to us. But we see the direction and, as they say, the choreography of this flight.”
Around 20 nevertheless breached Polish airspace in an incident that heightened tensions between the West and Russia.
Experts believe the incursion was not an accident and that Russia was testing NATO’s reaction and the level of solidarity between allies. Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, called the incidents a “deliberate provocation”.
Due to repeated airspace violations by Russian and Belarusian drones along NATO’s eastern flank, several countries are now seeking Ukraine’s help to strengthen their defenses.
Zelensky said Ukraine would send an advisory group to several countries and foreign representatives would also visit his nation.
He did not name any countries and said specifics had not yet been agreed.
Poland, Lithuania and Estonia have said publicly they are working with Ukraine on the issue.