The Cradle, 9/15/25
On 15 September, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called on NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine following a reported Russian drone incursion into Poland last week.
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeiner newspaper, Sikorski stated that Warsaw would need the support of other European allies to implement the plan.
“We as NATO and the EU could be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone; it can only be made with its allies,” he said.
“Protection for our population — for example, from falling debris — would naturally be greater if we could combat drones and other flying objects beyond our national territory … If Ukraine were to ask us to shoot them down over its territory, that would be advantageous for us. If you ask me personally, we should consider it,” he added.
Last week, multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland, prompting NATO to scramble fighter jets to shoot them down.
Russia said it did not target Poland. Belarus, Russia’s ally, said the drones entered Polish airspace by accident after they were jammed.
European leaders claim the drone incursions are a deliberate provocation by Russia.
Following the incursion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to build a “joint air defense system and create an effective air shield over Europe.”
The US and its partners in NATO have previously rejected requests by Ukraine for a no-fly zone, citing the risk of a direct military encounter with nuclear-armed Russia.
“The incident raised serious questions about the alliance’s readiness to counter the relatively cheap, highly maneuverable but devastatingly destructive unmanned aerial vehicles that have redefined modern warfare since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” the Washington Post wrote on Monday.
Officials in Warsaw said that Russian drones had penetrated Polish airspace 19 times, most likely as decoys to distract air defenses.
On Saturday, Romania scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone breached its airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that European nations are determined to block political and diplomatic efforts to end the war.
“NATO is de facto at war with Russia. This is obvious and needs no proof. NATO provides direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime,” Peskov added.
To agree to a peace deal, Moscow has demanded that Kiev relinquish territory in eastern Ukraine now occupied by Russia. The Kremlin insists that limits be imposed on Ukraine’s military and assurances that Ukraine will not gain membership in NATO.
One former Ukrainian official told the Washington Post on 12 September that the Russian drone incursion into Poland could cause Europe to limit support for Ukraine, rather than expand it.
Air defense batteries and missiles are already in short supply, and European countries may feel they need to keep these items for their own defense, rather than transfer them to Ukraine.
The former official said the first thought as drones entered Polish airspace was, “They will not even give us what they already promised.”
Russian drone and missile attacks have not only increased in number in recent months, but they have also become more sophisticated.
Russia now launches swarms of several hundred drones at once, with some being armed and others serving as decoys. Some are equipped with jet engines to allow them to fly faster and follow ballistic missile trajectories.