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Officials from Poland, NATO and the Netherlands acknowledged that four drones were destroyed by F-16 and F-35 jets, flown by Polish and Dutch pilots. One damaged a house near the village of Wyryki-Wola, fortunately without casualties. Tusk made it clear that the incident was a serious violation of Poland鈥檚 sovereignty, noting that it was the 鈥渃losest we have come to open conflict since World War Two.鈥�

Tusk is right. While there have been repeated violations of Polish airspace since the war began, there has been nothing on this scale. Moreover, this marks the first time NATO forces have engaged an enemy over the territory of one of its members.

Poland quickly invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty, initiating an emergency meeting of its security council. It has also asked for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

, renowned for his waffling on Russia, seemed to understand the seriousness of the moment. On Truth Social, he commented, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 with Russia violating Poland鈥檚 airspace with drones?鈥� Curtly adding, 鈥淗ere we go!鈥�

What precisely that means in terms of any response from the United States is a big question.

What鈥檚 most telling is the response from Russia. In its official statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that drone strikes against Ukraine did not include any targets in Poland, bizarrely implying that their 700 km range meant that they couldn鈥檛 be what was shot down. Despite what it called the 鈥渢he obvious inconsistency of Warsaw鈥檚 allegations,鈥� Russia declared its willingness to 鈥減revent further escalation鈥� through discussions.

搁耻蝉蝉颈补鈥檚 charge d’affaires in Warsaw claimed there was no evidence the drones were of Russian origin and Kremlin spokesman聽Dmitry Peskov dismissed Polish allegations as 鈥渘othing new,鈥� indicating Russia would make no further comments.

However, officials in Belarus 鈥� 搁耻蝉蝉颈补鈥檚 ally in the war 鈥� announced that hours before the incident they warned both Poland and Lithuania about drones that had strayed off course due to jamming. The Belarusian chief of general staff even claimed his forces shot some down themselves.

Any confusion here is no accident. Since the disastrous 鈥淎laskan Summit鈥� between Trump and Putin on Aug. 15, Russia has ramped up its war against Ukraine, particularly through aerial attacks. Emboldened by what he interpreted as recognition and respect received from Trump at their meeting, Putin is pushing before 鈥� or maybe if ever 鈥� Washington comes to a stronger resolve on ending the war.

The fact that the Trump administration has done nothing to push Russia to a ceasefire and negotiations is seen in Moscow as permission to escalate.聽

The drones shot down in Poland very likely represent a test, dangerous as it is, to gauge both the military and political responsiveness of NATO. While it鈥檚 unlikely that Russia intends any military operations against Poland or NATO 鈥� a decision that would, in effect, bring us to a Third World War 鈥� it is in keeping with Putin鈥檚 playbook to 鈥渕ess with the West.鈥�

Far from being fabricated by Poland, or even being a case of 鈥渓ost drones鈥� straying off course, this is a deliberate provocation designed to test the resolve of NATO and the Western allies.