Poland, NATO’s reaction to airspace breach appropriate, measured – ex-RAF officer

That's according to Toby Dickinson, a former Aerospace Battle Manager at RAF, who gave an exclusive comment to Ukrinform. 

“This was a further attempt by Putin to probe NATO’s defences and political will,” he said. 

As to whether Putin achieved his goals, Dickinson noted the unity in responses from political leaders across NATO and the EU, suggesting that the Kremlin boss appears to have failed. 

“NATO honoured the threat and dealt with it at the tactical level, giving Putin the knowledge that this won’t be tolerated while avoiding escalation on our side,” the former RAF Aerospace Battle Manager stressed. 

In his opinion, Poland’s response to Russia’s violation of NATO airspace has been “appropriate and effective”, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s response – measured as it referred to an ‘incursion’ rather than an ‘attack’, which is “appropriate at this stage”. 

He added that Russia’s continued belligerence and provocation reinforces the need for Alliance unity, for “continued vigilance at all levels and for NATO and the EU to continue to enhance preparedness to counter Russian aggression”.

As reported by Ukrinform, several drones violated Polish airspace during a massive attack on Ukraine on the night of Wednesday, September 10.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that it was Russian drones in huge numbers that violated the country's airspace.

He added that the drones, which posed a direct threat, were shot down.

NATO, at Poland's request, invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty after Russian drones violated its airspace at night.

Photo: AA