Rzeszów and Lublin suspend flights during Russian attacks on Ukraine

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) announced the closures after the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces deployed military aircraft in Polish airspace in response to the Russian strikes.

Ground-based air defense and radar surveillance systems were also placed on heightened alert.

The Polish military said the measures were precautionary and intended to protect the country’s airspace, particularly areas close to Ukrainian regions under attack.

The threat later subsided, and Polish military aircraft returned to their bases.

No violation of Polish airspace was detected, the Operational Command said.

Rzeszów and Lublin airports resumed flight operations roughly an hour after the suspension, shortly before 9 a.m. local time.

The closures followed several recent incidents close to Poland’s border with Ukraine.

On Sept. 17, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a Russian attack drone had crashed in Ukraine’s Volyn Oblast near the Polish border.

A Polish military spokesperson said the drone had likely crashed or been shot down around 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the border.

Tusk also warned lawmakers on Sept. 17 that intelligence assessments indicated Russia could increasingly use drones and missiles in hybrid attacks against countries supporting Ukraine.

He said such attacks could be presented as “accidental” in an effort to test NATO’s resolve and weaken the alliance’s willingness to respond collectively.

Poland also issued air alerts in several border areas on Sept. 16 during Russian attacks on western Ukraine. Rzeszów and Lublin airports temporarily suspended operations that day as well.

On Sept. 14, Polish military personnel recovered a drone of suspected Russian origin from the Baltic Sea near Rusinowo in West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

A day earlier, a Russian drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train at Yahodyn station in Ukraine’s Volyn Oblast, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from Poland.

A diplomatic train carrying European politicians, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had been at the station shortly before the strike.