“Our house on fire”: ex-Lithuanian FM warns Russia’s attack on Poland may curb Ukraine aid

Speaking to Suspilne, Landsbergis said: “In my view, we are approaching a situation where we can no longer avoid admitting: our house is on fire. We resemble the cartoon character sitting with a cup of coffee while everything burns around him, saying, ‘This is fine.’ But it’s no longer fine. This is a clear escalation, an act of aggression against a NATO country. There may be several reasons,” 

He believes one reason for Russia’s drone strike on Poland is that Vladimir Putin, “as always, is testing the limits of the West, gauging the response, and setting a new reality.”

At the same time, another motive is Putin’s desire to pressure Warsaw, “especially knowing about the current disagreements between the government and the president.”

“Poland is a critically important transit route for supplying equipment to Ukraine. Imagine if a debate started in Poland: ‘We are under drone attack, maybe we should help Ukraine less?’ That would be incredibly damaging and a major victory for Putin,” the former Lithuanian foreign minister explained.

He also believes that the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones was no accident but a deliberate message.

“And they wanted to achieve something with this. Poland is currently in a difficult political situation, with the coalition once again under pressure. Adding drone attacks only fuels the fire and could benefit Putin,” Landsbergis noted.

Russian Shaheds in Polish airspace. Background

Polish Armed Forces’ Operational Command put air defense systems and aviation on highest alert due to Russia’s night attack on Ukraine: Russian drones violated the country’s airspace. Search continues for downed drone sites.

As a result of a Russian attack on the night of September 10, drone debris fell on a residential building in a village in Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship. No one was injured.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to help Poland develop an alert and air defense system. Meanwhile, European Commission President von der Leyen announces the EU will build a “drone wall” on the Russia border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the violation of Poland’s airspace by Russian drones, stating that Kyiv had warned Warsaw about the UAV movements.