Poland's air navigation agency suspended flight operations at Lublin Airport (LUZ) and Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport (RZE) on September 17, 2026, after the Government Center for Security (RCB) issued an air attack alert for two eastern voivodeships as a Russian jet-powered drone approached the Polish border.

The RCB published its first communiqué at 11:54 local time, warning residents of all 24 counties and cities with county status in Lublin Voivodeship and all 25 in Subcarpathian Voivodeships to find a safe place. The alert was lifted at 12:48 local time — 54 minutes later — after the Armed Forces Operational Command (DORSZ) confirmed the drone came down 3 to 4 kilometers (about 2 to 2.5 miles) inside Ukraine.

DORSZ had announced at 11:40 local time that military aircraft had begun operating in Polish airspace in response to Russian strikes on western Ukraine using jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. Ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were brought to readiness. The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) then halted civilian operations at LUZ and RZE to give military aviation freedom of action.

DORSZ spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski told Interia that Ukraine had warned Poland of an object approaching the border at high speed. Polish radar tracked the object, prompting the decision to launch fighters. In comments to Interia and the Polish Press Agency (PAP), he said the drone most likely hit a target or was neutralized 3 to 4 kilometers inside Ukraine, while the command was still checking its system records.

Explosion near border crossing

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking at a press conference after meeting Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, said a target near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing — probably a gas station — had been struck. He described a very large explosion.

DORSZ later announced the end of military air operations and said no violation of Polish airspace had been recorded. It separately attributed a loud boom heard in central Poland before noon to combat aircraft breaking the sound barrier. Neither DORSZ nor the government identified the aircraft involved or the drone type.

Fourth border incident in under two weeks

The alert follows Russian strikes near the same crossing on September 13, 2026, when a drone hit a passenger-train locomotive at Yahodyn station. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that day that one jet-powered Geran-5 drone struck 1 kilometer (about 0.6 miles) from the Polish border and another 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) away, without violating Poland's border.

The September 17 events are the latest in a sequence that has already reshaped operations along Poland's eastern frontier. PANSA introduced low-altitude flight restrictions along the eastern border after up to 21 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of September 9 to 10, 2025 — a measure that now constrains general aviation and low-level traffic in the affected zones.

The operational cost of each incident is direct. Two commercial airports, including Rzeszów-Jasionka — a hub for Western logistics flows into Ukraine since 2022 — stopped flying while fighters worked the airspace. Airlines serving LUZ and RZE face recurring exposure to short-notice suspensions as long as Russian jet-powered drones continue striking targets in western Ukraine close to the border.

Neither DORSZ nor the Polish government has said whether the temporary closures will trigger further changes to eastern airspace design beyond the low-altitude restrictions already in force. With strikes approaching the border four times in under two weeks, Polish fighter launches and airport stoppages are becoming a routine rather than exceptional response.