Poland has requested the activation of NATO’s Article 4—something that has only happened seven times since the alliance was founded—with Donald Tusk announcing that a total of 19 violations of his country’s airspace took place.

Article 4, last activated in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, stipulates that any NATO member state may initiate official consultations with the alliance “whenever it feels that its territorial integrity, political independence, or security is threatened.”

According to the Polish Prime Minister, the violations on Tuesday night “are only part of the broader security framework, with Russia and Belarus planning to conduct ‘offensive’ military exercises later this week.”

“There is no reason to claim that we are at war… but the situation is significantly more dangerous than all previous ones. The prospect of a major military confrontation is closer than ever since World War II,” Tusk said.

Speaking before the Polish parliament, Mr. Tusk described how the Polish armed forces decided to escalate their response at 10 p.m. on Tuesday. He said the first violation occurred at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night and the last at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning—“and that gives you an idea of the scale of the operation.”

Citing preliminary findings from the investigation by Polish authorities, there were 19 violations of Polish airspace by a significant number of drones entering from Belarus.

Three of them have been confirmed shot down, and it is believed the same happened with a fourth.

Referring to NATO member states’ response, Mr. Tusk said that they “seem to understand the seriousness of the situation and the importance of continued support for Ukraine,” while reiterating Poland’s backing of Ukraine in its war with Russia, noting that this is also fundamental for his own country’s security.

Russian envoy in Poland: Warsaw has presented no evidence for its claims

Meanwhile, the Russian envoy in Poland, Andrei Ordas, argued—in the first reaction from the Russian side—that Warsaw has presented no evidence to support its claims.

“We consider the accusations baseless. No proof has been presented that these drones were Russian,” he told RIA Novosti, shortly before being summoned by Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Referring to previous similar incidents, he claimed that the Poles would not provide irrefutable evidence for their statements.

“Russia has no intention of escalating with Poland, but unfortunately we cannot count on the Polish authorities listening to us amid their anti-Russian hysteria,” the Russian diplomat concluded.