NATO officially invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty on September 10th, 2025, at Poland's request, following overnight Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace. The action, confirmed by the @nexta_tv account and initiating consultations among alliance members, followed reports of over 20 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles violating Polish airspace, with the last drone destroyed at 6:45 AM UTC. Polish authorities confirmed the recovery of debris, including an American AIM-120C-7 air-to-air missile, across multiple locations in Lublin Voivodeship. During the reporting window, Slovak PM Fico stated that while the drone violation of Polish airspace is serious, he wants to know who controlled the drones, adding that it "wasn’t Ukraine or NATO." This statement comes as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commented on the Russian drone incursion into Poland, highlighting that "Numerous drones from Russia violated Polish airspace." Rutte mentioned that "Several Allies were involved alongside Poland. This included Polish F16s, Dutch F35s, Italian AWACS, NATO Multi Role Tanker Transport, and German Patriots." This statement was made during a period of continued consultations under Article 4, which was invoked earlier today. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had described the incursions as an "unprecedented and incomparably more dangerous provocation" overnight. In parallel, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stated via X at 12:54 PM UTC that "The drone at the low height (100 meters) in the direction of Zvyagel, in Zhytomyr region!" and called for "renewed military support for Ukraine and allies in Eastern Europe and harsh new sanctions on Russia." This comes as the Russian Ministry of Defense declared its readiness to consult with the Polish Ministry of National Defense regarding the day's events. The Pentagon's recent decision to halt training and security funding for NATO Allies bordering Russia was noted by Jen Griffin of Fox News at 12:49 PM UTC, who pointed out that NATO's response to the incursions did not mention U.S. military assistance for Poland's defense. OSINT researchers suggest that the drone incursions were deliberate tests of NATO's decision-making and air defense responses, potentially linked to the upcoming "Zapad-2025" military drills. The Russian Ministry of Defense previously claimed its forces struck military-industrial complex enterprises in Ukraine and stated that "Objects for defeat on the territory of Poland were not planned."
