UN warns of 'real risk' Russia-Ukraine war could expand

After Russian drones violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, fears are mounting that the war could spill over into neighbouring countries.

Clearance operations in the Polish village of Wyryki continued on Thursday morning after NATO jets shot down Russian drones that entered Polish airspace on Wednesday night during an attack on Ukraine.  

Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, called the incursion "a deliberate act by Russia to sow fear and create division in the country" and warned that Poland hasn’t been as close to open conflict since World War II.  

A spokesperson for Antonio Guterres said the UN chief is also concerned about the risk the war could spill over.

“The incident, which reportedly took place during another large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine, again underlines the regional impact and real risk of expansion of this devastating conflict,” Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Poland on Wednesday held urgent talks with NATO allies under the treaty’s Article 4, which is used for urgent consultation over military matters. Tusk has also requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the drone incursion.  

Russia's Defense Ministry has denied targeting Poland. Russia’s close ally Belarus said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed.  

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in either Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory.