Poland’s State Protection Service (SOP) neutralized a drone flying over government buildings in central Warsaw on September 15, 2025, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced.
In a statement published on X, Tusk said that the drone was seen in an area on Parkowa Street and nearby Belweder Palace, which serves as one of the official residences used by the President of Poland and a guest house for visiting foreign leaders.
“Two Belarusian citizens were detained. The police are investigating the circumstances of the incident,” Tusk said.
A spokesman for the State Security Service, Colonel Bogusław Piórkowski said that the drone was detected around 19:00 local time on September 15, 2025.
“Officers of the State Protection Service, on duty at the Belvedere, noticed a flying drone and notified their superiors. The officers captured two people and handed them over to the police,” Piórkowski told private broadcaster TVN24.
Piórkowski said that there is a “no-fly zone” for drones over Belweder Palace, adding that “it is not possible to legally fly over such government buildings in Warsaw and in the SOP protection zone.”
Additionally, he informed the Polish state news agency PAP that no shots were fired during the incident. Piórkowski also noted that the drone returned to its operators in emergency mode and was secured by the officers.
Commenting on the incident, Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz advised against jumping to early conclusions.
“I know that in such matters it is not worth drawing sharp, radical conclusions, if you do not know what happened,” Pelczynska-Nalecz said. “The impression is that this is not something that flew in (from beyond our border), but something that these citizens let go on the spot [within Poland’s territory]”.
Growing airspace violations in NATO territory
The incident comes during a time of heightened regional tensions following a number of airspace violations involving NATO member countries over the past few weeks.
On September 13, 2025, two NATO F-16 fighter jets were deployed after a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace. In response, the two F-16s from the 86th Air Base tracked the Russian drone and were later supported by two German Eurofighters to monitor the situation.
On the night of September 9–10, 2025, at least 19 Russian drones violated the airspace of Poland, an incident Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called a “test” for the Alliance.
In the context of heightened regional tensions, NATO initiated the Eastern Sentry operation on September 12, 2025, to “further strengthen its posture to shield and protect all Allies.” The operation coincides with the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2025 military exercises currently taking place in Belarus.
