Poland's defense minister wants Ukraine to be more careful about where its long-range drones fly, Reuters reports. He made the comments at a press conference in Estonia. Each Ukrainian drone that strays into NATO airspace, he argued, hands Russia another pretext for provocation.
Russian electronic warfare has been redirecting Ukrainian drones into NATO airspace for months, Ukrainian and Baltic officials say.
Poland's message: precision, or Russia exploits the gap
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz framed his warning around what Russia is already doing to Ukrainian flight paths. "Ukraine must be very precise when using drones, in order to avoid Russian interference with their flight paths," Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "Ukraine, of course, must be more careful here, in order not to give Russia a pretext for provocation." He added that Baltic states' territory "must not be violated, they must not be subjected to threat."
Background
On the morning of 20 May, Vilnius and several eastern districts of Lithuania went under red air raid alert. Authorities suspected a drone had crossed into Lithuanian skies. The country's top leadership took shelter. In the same hours, Latvia issued alerts in its border districts with Russia — the second day in a row.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said municipalities must keep shelters open around the clock from now on. She spoke after a National Security Commission meeting. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry published separate guidance for citizens on what each air raid alert level means. Lithuania's defense minister called on European countries to adapt to "stray" drone incidents. His country's airspace had been breached directly.
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