Ukraine’s Air Force reported that more than a dozen Russian drones entered Polish airspace yesterday. NATO responded by sending fighter jets to shoot them down. The New York Times reports that it is “the first time that NATO fighters engaged enemy targets in their own airspace.”
Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk said: “We are dealing with a large-scale provocation.” He added: “The situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios.”
U.S. Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) responded to the Russian attack on Poland, writing on social media: “Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahed drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House. This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations.”
[NOTE: Nawrocki is the President of Poland, which is a parliamentary republic where the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the Council of Ministers.]
Wilson added: “I urge President Trump to respond with mandatory sanctions that will bankrupt the Russian war machine and arm Ukraine with weapons capable of striking Russia. Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory. Putin stated that ‘Russia knows no borders.’ Free and prosperous nations will teach Russia about borders.”
Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahed drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House. This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked…
— Joe Wilson (@RepJoeWilson) September 10, 2025
In February, long before the August summit that saw President Donald Trump welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin onto U.S. soil ostensibly to negotiate a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Poland and held a press conference with Polish Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz.
At the press conference, Hegseth told Kosiniak-Kamysz, “Our friendship, our bond, is ironclad. And we came here specifically to reinforce that.”
The U.S. Defense Secretary added: “We see Poland as the model ally on the continent, willing to invest not just in their defense but in our shared defense and the defense of the continent.”
@SecWar in Poland 6 months ago.
“We see Poland as the model ally on the continent, willing to invest not just in their defense, but in our shared defense and the defense of the continent.”https://t.co/tsn5asgrNH pic.twitter.com/NsiEwYvbVo
— Petri Aspvik (@PetriAspvik) September 10, 2025
Note: This isn’t the first time Rep. Wilson has urged U.S. action against Russia, which invaded the former Russian territory of Georgia in 2008, before it invaded Poland’s neighbor, Ukraine, in 2022 after annexing Crimea in 2014.
In May 2024, Wilson introduced the MEGOBARI Act, which suggests sanctions against Russia intelligence assets in Georgia trying to undermine democracy in Georgia.
Wilson’s fellow Republican South Carolina lawmaker, Sen. Lindsay Graham, a longtime Russian hawk, called the drone attack “unacceptable” and said he was working with the Trump administration to hit Russia with escalated sanctions.
Russian drones entering NATO airspace in Poland is beyond unacceptable.
I have been working closely with the Trump Administration on the Russia sanctions and tariff bill that would provide wide authority to President @realDonaldTrump to impose sanctions and tariffs on countries… https://t.co/8roFhxiZJa
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 10, 2025