Inside Nato’s Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany, the night shift usually passes quietly, with watchkeepers staring into a sea of glowing screens.
Hundreds of Russian drones buzzing over Ukraine are a familiar sight—tragic to witness, but nothing new.
That Tuesday night, however, something unusual caught an observer’s eye.
A squadron of drones, launched from Belarus, veered sharply toward Poland instead of heading into Ukraine.
The calm of routine monitoring instantly turned into high alert.
Emergency Protocols Kick In
As alarms flashed, Nato’s digitally integrated Air Command and Control System sprang into action.
By 10pm local time, Polish military officials began receiving reports of a massive drone attack on Ukraine.
An hour and a half later, the first drones were confirmed inside Polish airspace—43 miles from the Ukrainian border, well beyond what could be considered accidental strays.
At Poland’s Poznan Krzesiny airbase, Dutch F-35s scrambled alongside a Polish Saab 340 Airborne Early Warning aircraft, with an Italian AEW plane redirected to join the operation.
Meanwhile, in Warsaw, senior defence officials prepared briefings for Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, who remained in constant contact throughout the night.
Mobilizing Ground Forces and Civilian Safety
Polish territorial army units were awakened and dispatched to drone crash sites, while airspace over four major airports, including Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, was closed by 2:30am.
Black Hawk helicopters were deployed to support troops and serve as a last line of defence, as the public was urged to stay indoors.
F-35s engaged the drones using air-to-air missiles—but these were not ordinary attack drones.
The Gerbera decoys carried no explosives, raising questions about the motives behind this provocative incursion.
Understanding Nato’s Article 4 and Article 5
This episode immediately raised treaty questions. Article 4 allows Nato members to consult one another whenever a member’s territory, political independence, or security is threatened.
Historically, this has been invoked seven times, most recently in February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Article 5, the cornerstone of Nato’s founding treaty, is triggered only if an armed attack occurs on a member state.
It commits all allies to collective defence, essentially treating an attack on one as an attack on all, allowing coordinated military response.
Testing Nato’s Defences and Russian Capabilities
Defence insiders suggest the night’s drone operation was meticulously planned to test Nato defences.
Beyond that, it may have been an experiment in battlefield intelligence: connecting drones to local mobile networks for in-flight control.
Previous incursions revealed Polish and Lithuanian SIM cards in drone wreckage, hinting at the Kremlin’s interest in probing these capabilities.
Across the night, the UK Ministry of Defence and British forces stationed in Poland closely monitored the situation.
The reach of these drones, flying 150 miles into Poland, shocked officials, as previous incursions had barely crossed a few miles into allied territory.
The Aftermath: Damage and Investigation
By 6:30am, the final drone was downed. Prime Minister Tusk convened an emergency meeting, followed by a full government briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media, warning that this incursion set a dangerous precedent for Europe and accused Russia of pushing boundaries.
Poland and Nato officially ended their defensive operation by 7:42am, but intelligence work on the ground was just beginning.
Crash sites were cordoned off for detailed forensic investigations.
Early reports suggested Poland had shot down only four of the 19–24 drones, leaving a substantial amount of hardware for Nato analysis.
Mapping the Drone Paths
Initial investigations revealed that Russian drones had followed major roads and radar sites towards Warsaw and Lublin.
Five drones fell near highways E30, 63, and 82, while others landed close to the defence industry hub of Stalowa Wola.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, issued a statement claiming the drones had no intention of hitting Polish territory, emphasizing observation rather than attack.
What Comes Next?
While no lives were lost, the incursion has highlighted vulnerabilities in Nato air defences and the evolving tactics of Russian drone operations.
Analysts warn that future episodes could involve armed drones guided in-flight, making rapid intelligence-gathering and international coordination more critical than ever.