British Forces are being primed to bolster Europe’s defences after Russia’s drone onslaught pushed the continent to the brink of conflict. Defence Secretary John Healey said UK troops could help beef up NATO’s air defence over Poland following Vladimir Putin’s “reckless” attacks.
He insisted European nations – with the help of the UK military – will “stand firm”. His stark warning came after Kremlin drones flew into Polish airspace in a brazen act of aggression, forcing Warsaw to shoot them down and trigger NATO Article 4 – one below the threshold of war.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the military clash leaves the NATO-member country the “closest to open conflict since World War Two”.
The UK already has around 300 armed forces personnel in Poland.
Until July, RAF Typhoons were operating from Poland as part of Nato’s air policing mission – a task shared between the members of the alliance.
Mr Healey, said the move took Russia’s aggression to “a new level of hostility.
Speaking after talks in London with defence officials from Poland, Italy, France and Germany, he said: “Russia’s actions are reckless, they’re dangerous, they’re unprecedented.
“We see what Putin is doing. Yet again he is testing us. Yet again we will stand firm.”
He added: “I’ve asked our UK Armed Forces to look at options to bolster Nato’s air defence over Poland.”
Some 19 Russian drones flew across the Polish border during an attack on Ukraine overnight into Wednesday.
Four of them were shot down by NATO fighter jets while the rest are understood to have crashed .
It is the first time since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022 that NATO has directly clashed with Russia.
The Russian military said there had been “no plans to target facilities on the territory of Poland”.
Sir Keir Starmer condemned Russia’s “egregious and unprecedented violation” while Mark Rutte, Secretary General of the military alliance, said Putin’s actions were “absolutely reckless” and “absolutely dangerous”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for decisive action from Western Allies, warning that Russia’s actions set an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe.”
He said: “Allies are resolved to defend every inch of allied territory.”
Article 4, a clause in Nato’s founding treaty, brings all of the allies together when the security or territory of one is threatened.
But it stops short of Article 5’s key promise that an attack on one is an attack on all that demands a military response.
Sir Keir said in a statement: “This morning’s barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and Nato airspace by Russian drones is deeply concerning.
“This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of President Putin’s blatant disregard for peace, and the constant bombardment innocent Ukrainians face every day.”
Sir Keir said the UK and partners will continue to “ramp up the pressure on Putin until there is a just and lasting peace”.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said support for Ukraine is “unwavering”.
“The attack last night in Poland shows Putin’s belief that he can somehow act with impunity,” he said.
NATO warplanes roared into action when the fleet of hostile drones breached Polish airspace.
Air defences blasted several out of the sky – damaging a house in the eastern village of Wyryki.
Wreckage was also found in Czosnowka as terrified residents were ordered to stay indoors across three regions.
Polish F-16s, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS planes and NATO refuelling aircraft all took part in the overnight operation, while Patriot systems tracked the swarm on radar.
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Poland drone strikes were proof of a “deliberate policy shift by Putin”.
He welcomed Poland’s decision to trigger Nato’s Article Four and urged allies to stand up “to bullying behaviour”.
He said: “Over the last month we have seen bomb damage to the British Council and the EU headquarters in Kyiv, we have seen the first strikes on Ukrainian government buildings in Kyiv, and now these strikes on Poland.
“Putin is trying to make us back off. He is trying to send a warning to the US and Nato that he is no longer going to turn a blind eye to our support for Ukraine.”
Moscow, meanwhile, continues to barrage Ukraine with relentless drone strikes.
Savage new strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least one and wounded others as Russia unleashed more than 40 cruise and ballistic missiles and over 400 drones, with Lviv, Lutsk and Vinnytsia among the cities hit.