Poland scrambled F-16 fighter jets in the early hours of July 9 after Russia launched one of its most intense air assaults on Ukraine since the war began, striking western regions alarmingly close to Polish territory. The strikes targeted cities such as Lutsk and Zhytomyr, less than 100 kilometers from Poland’s border.

The Polish Armed Forces’ Operational Command confirmed the jets were launched around 3 a.m. in response to “intensive long-range aviation activity” by Russia. The Polish military also activated its radar and air-defense systems in coordination with NATO partners. The alert lasted several hours, with jets returning to base at approximately 6 a.m. No violation of Polish airspace occurred, but the proximity and scale of Russian operations triggered the response.

The attack on Ukraine involved more than 700 Iranian-made Shahed drones and over a dozen missiles, targeting multiple regions including Kyiv, Lviv, and Rivne. Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted most of the threats, but infrastructure and storage sites in the western areas suffered damage, with fires breaking out at multiple locations. Ukrainian officials stated that the bombardment aimed to overwhelm their air-defense network and stretch defensive lines closer to NATO territory.

This isn’t the first time Poland has scrambled jets in response to nearby Russian strikes. Similar incidents occurred in June during raids near Sumy and Chernihiv. These actions fall under NATO’s integrated air defense and quick reaction framework, which aims to prevent spillover from the war into alliance territory.

Three practical measures could bolster Poland’s eastern defenses:

Deploying rapid-response mobile air defense units to border zones during high-risk periods.

Upgrading cross-border threat detection infrastructure, including joint radar coordination with Ukraine.

Rolling out civil air raid protocols in frontier communities, especially for night-time operations that mirror Russian airstrike patterns.

This episode illustrates not just the military proximity of the Ukraine conflict to NATO borders, but the increasing frequency with which Poland must operate on high alert. The risk of miscalculation grows with each new strike near allied airspace.