Poland to convene security meeting amid rising Russia tensions

Polish President Karol Nawrocki will convene a meeting on Sept. 18 to discuss the country's current security situation, Bartosz Grodecki, the Head of the National Security Bureau, said on Sept. 16, as tensions between Russia and Poland escalate.

The meeting will include Nawrocki, National Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Gen. Wieslaw Kukula, Chief of the Polish Armed Forces' General Staff, according to Grodecki.

"The discussion will focus on the current security situation and measures taken in response to recent events," Grodecki said.

The announcement comes amid a series of security incidents triggered by Russia's war aginst Ukraine.

On the morning of Sept. 16, Poland scrambled fighter jets and temporarily halted operations of the Lublin Airport and Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport as Russia launched drones against Ukraine, Polish authorities announced.

Around 7:00 a.m. local time, military aircraft took off, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were readied in response to Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, Poland's Operational Command of the Armed Forces (DORSZ) announced on social media platform X.

This was a preventive measure to protect Polish airspace, particularly in the regions bordering Ukraine, DORSZ said. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., DORZS announced the operation had ended.

From 6:46 a.m. to 7:16 a.m. local time, air raid alerts were issued in Ukraine's Volyn Oblast, which borders Poland.

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) announced that the airports in Lublin and Rzeszow temporarily suspended flights while the military operation was ongoing at 7:00 am. After 40 minutes, PANSA said the airports resumed activity.

The Government Security Center issued alerts for residents of Lublin and Podkarpackie regions for half an hour, Polish broadcaster TVN24 reported.

Russia launched drones overnight at western Ukraine also on Sept. 13, striking a gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing and a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Polish border.

Poland is treating Russian drone strikes near its border with Ukraine and the attack on a passenger train with the "utmost seriousness," Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said Sept. 13.

It was later reported that former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other European officials were on the train in front of the one that was attacked and had passed through the border crossing shortly before.

Russian drone strikes "close to NATO territory" demonstrate Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation," NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte said on Sept. 14.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to the warnings from Poland on Sept. 14, saying, "Our military is carrying out its tasks throughout the territory of Ukraine and continues to do so, and will continue," according to Kremlin-aligned news agency Interfax.

Polish outlet RMF24 also reported on Sept. 16 that a drone found on a beach in the Polish village of Rusinowo on Sept. 14 was a Russian Gerbera 2 drone, armed with a 4-kilogram explosive charge, citing preliminary findings by the prosecutor's office.