Poland has suspended flights at two airports and scrambled fighter jets after a fresh wave of Russian drone attacks near its border with Ukraine.
The precautionary measures affected Lublin and Rzeszów airports in eastern Poland as the country’s military activated air-defence and radar systems in response to the attacks.
Poland’s Operational Command of the Armed Forces said the measures were “preventive in nature” and intended to protect Polish airspace, particularly areas close to the threatened regions.
Authorities also issued aerial attack warnings to residents in two eastern regions.
The latest incident marks the second time in two days that flights at Lublin and Rzeszów airports have been suspended over Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency closed both airports temporarily while Polish fighter jets were scrambled after Russia launched drones towards Ukraine.
Ground-based air-defence and radar systems were activated shortly after 7am local time, according to Poland’s Operational Command. The operation was called off shortly after 8am after the immediate threat had passed.
The measures followed air-raid alerts in Ukraine’s Volyn region, which borders Poland.
Polish authorities have become increasingly alert to the risk of the Russia-Ukraine war spilling into or affecting Polish territory, particularly as Russian strikes have occurred close to the border.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki is expected to convene a security meeting on Friday involving Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and General Wiesław Kukuła, chief of the Polish Armed Forces General Staff.
The latest developments come days after former British prime minister Boris Johnson was travelling by train from Kyiv to Poland when a railway line in Ukraine’s Volyn region was targeted by a Russian drone.
