Air war over Ukraine - Russian drones over Poland
The biggest event during the period covered in this installment of the series (1 Sept. to 30 Sept.) was the massive violation of NATO airspace by Russian drones. It took place during the night of 9–10 Sept. in Poland. During a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, about two dozen unmanned aerial vehicles continued westward. While, as always, Moscow made excuses, Warsaw’s officials say the Russian drones penetrated intentionally.
Miro Barič
Russian drones over Poland
The biggest event during the period covered in this installment of the series
(1 Sept. to 30 Sept.) was the massive violation of NATO airspace by Russian
drones. It took place during the night of 9–10 Sept. in Poland. During a large-
scale Russian attack on Ukraine, about two dozen unmanned aerial vehicles
continued westward. While, as always, Moscow made excuses, Warsaw’s
officials say the Russian drones penetrated intentionally.
Aerial War in Ukraine
The alarm began on Tuesday 9 Sept. shortly
before midnight and lasted roughly seven hours
until the following morning. Poland closed
the airports in Warsaw, Modlin, Rzeszów and
Lublin and scrambled F-16 fighters. NATO allies
also assisted — the Netherlands deployed
F-35 fighters, Italy provided an airborne early
warning and control aircraft, and Belgium sent
an Airbus A330 MRTT tanker. Germany put its
Patriot batteries stationed in Poland on the
highest alert; they helped track the drones’
movements.
At least four drones were shot down by
fighters. This was the first time NATO had
destroyed Russian drones over its territory.
A kill marking later appeared under the cockpit
of F-35 F-027 from the Royal Netherlands Air
Force’s 313 Squadron. Other drones crashed in
various areas, mainly in eastern Poland. One,
however, flew as far as a field near Mniszkówe
in the Łódź Voivodeship in central Poland, and
another was found near the village of Oleśno
in the north of the country. Both thus flew
hundreds of kilometres within Polish airspace.
Searching for drone wreckage took several
days, and in the end as many as 21 were found.
Some sources even give the number 23. Most
likely, however, those counts also include two
cases where AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles struck
the ground. One of those air-to-air missiles,
fired from a Polish F-16 after missing a drone,
deviated from its trajectory and hit a house
in the village of Wyryki-Wola. It heavily
damaged the roof on impact but did not explode
and no one was injured. Wreckage from the
other AIM-120 was later found near the village
of Choiny.
At least 17 of the drones recovered were the
Russian Gerbera type; their serial numbers —
found on the wrecks — are often known. Four
drones could not be identified. At least two of
those four were among those shot down and,
after the explosion of the air-to-air missile,
likely little remained to identify.
The Gerbera is a cheap drone with
a wingspan of 2.5 metres. In shape it resembles
the Iranian Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles,
and at first it was used as a decoy to swamp
Ukraine’s air defences. Later it began to be
used for reconnaissance, electronic warfare
and kamikaze missions with small amounts of
explosives.
Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard40
November 2025