Seeing the Ukraine war spill over into NATO countries is something no reasonable person wants, but the danger is real. Alliance member Poland activated its Air Force on Friday in response to a wave of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian targets.
Poland’s RSZ Operational Command posted on X, formerly Twitter, “We warn that due to the commencement of another wave of long-range aviation attacks by the Russian Federation on facilities located in the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aircraft have been activated.”
When the attacks from Moscow subsided on Saturday, Poland ended the Air Force operation.
⚡ Ukraine's air force spokesman: Poland could close the sky over western Ukraine, but it requires political will.https://t.co/d5UwAuKZS8
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) April 29, 2024
Concerned Polish citizens in the southeastern part of the nation near the Ukraine border were notified of the increased aircraft activity.
Newsweek reported that the Kremlin launched a massive series of strikes on energy facilities in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv. Ukraine’s military revealed that it destroyed all but three of the 24 incoming missiles.
Russia’s recent strategy involves attacking Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. The nation’s largest private energy company, DTEK, reported that the Friday night launches significantly damaged four of its thermal plants without providing details.
The Polish military posted on X that “all necessary procedures to ensure the safety of our airspace have been initiated.” But as the succession of Russian attacks continued, another message announced that “Polish and allied aircraft have been activated.”
Authorities confirmed that operational command was involved in the activation as the attacks intensified.
There was no word of Russian armaments crossing into Polish airspace.
Poland previously warned that if Moscow is successful in its invasion of Ukraine, it will turn its sights on members of the NATO alliance. This theme was echoed by several other Western nations, though Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the possibility.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski pushed the rhetoric further on Thursday. He declared that a war between the NATO alliance and Russia would result in the Kremlin’s “inevitable defeat.”
For his part, Putin consistently restates Russia’s willingness to deploy its nuclear arsenal if its sovereignty is threatened. Moscow has atomic weapons in Belarus, which shares a border with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania — all NATO members.
