Up to four were shot down by NATO allies taking part in the defense operation.
Just hours before Tusk's speech, air raid sirens had sounded in the south-eastern Lublin and Subcarpathian voivodeships as Russia carried out aerial attacks on western Ukraine, causing at least one powerful explosion close to the Polish border. Airspace was closed, fighter jets were scrambled and mobile government alerts were issued in response, a sequence of events that has become an almost daily occurrence in the region.
Cracks in Poland's Solidarity
Setting out the security situation, Tusk said the broadening bombardment campaign, waged with mass-produced jet-powered drones, would likely intensify in the coming months, targeting Ukrainian cities alongside economic and logistical infrastructure.
Russia's aim in expanding its operations, Tusk claimed, is to weaken NATO's resolve and persuade member states that Article 5, which holds that an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, is merely "theoretical".
In response to the threat facing Poland, the prime minister explained that the government was strengthening military infrastructure at border crossings to improve the safety of the officers and soldiers stationed there. He also highlighted enhanced anti-aircraft capabilities at six border points and the establishment of another command and radar station.
Tusk also pointed to upcoming discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about air defense cooperation in the coming days.
Meanwhile, in what was described as an "appeal for unity" among the political class, Tusk took aim at those seen as questioning Poland's loyalty to its allies, particularly over military support and NATO's Article 5.
However, Tusk went further, extending the rebuke to anyone inciting hostility toward the European Union or any of Poland's other close allies, arguing that doing so amounts to spreading Russian propaganda. During the address, he singled out the right-wing Confederation (Konfederacja), a party that has surged in support since the last parliamentary elections and is markedly more euroskeptical and cautious toward Ukraine than Tusk's government.
While Poles remain strongly supportive of EU membership, polling in recent years has shown a slow but steady erosion in that support, from 92% in 2022 to 82% this year. They are far more skeptical, however, about deepening the country's EU integration: just 26% of respondents earlier this year said they wanted closer integration.
Polish attitudes toward their eastern neighbor have likewise cooled significantly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Poles have grown no more favorable toward Russia, but surveys now show only a slim majority in favor of continued military aid to Ukraine, and a similarly slim majority believes Poland is providing Ukrainian refugees with too much assistance.
A New US Army Base?
Hours after Tusk's address, US President Donald Trump announced that "major progress" was being made toward establishing a new US Army base in Poland, a development he credited to the country's conservative president, Karol Nawrocki.
"If this happens, the location will be announced very soon. This will be a historic step for our Great U.S./Polish Alliance", Trump wrote in a post on social media platform Truth Social.
The Polish warnings come amid growing alarm across Europe over Russia's widening military activity. At the start of September, the German government identified Russia as the actor behind an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport.
This week, French President Emmanuel Macron invited party leaders from across the political spectrum to an unusual meeting at the Elysee Palace to discuss the international situation and a destabilized security environment that many predict is likely to persist for some time.
Russian officials, for their part, deny that their country is engaged in or seeking a broader military conflict with Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has instead claimed that NATO is waging a hybrid war against Russia.
