---
title: "Poland scrambled fighters after Russia's overnight strike on western Ukraine: drones operated just kilometers from the border"
description: "Russia's overnight attack on western Ukraine on the night of September 13 forced Poland to scramble fighters: according to the command, Russian drones operated just a few kilometers from the border, but the country's airspace was not violated."
date: 2026-09-13T11:58:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/poland-scrambled-fighters-after-russia-overnight-strike-western-ukraine
tags: [poland, ukraine, russian-drones, airspace, lublin, yagodyn, fighter-jets]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Poland scrambled fighters after Russia's overnight strike on western Ukraine: drones operated just kilometers from the border

![Fighter jet pilot in the cockpit of a military aircraft near the Polish-Ukrainian border after a drone attack](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/13/polsha-podnyala-istrebiteli-posle-nochnoy-ataki-rf-na-zapad-ukrainy/polsha-podnyala-istrebiteli-posle-nochnoy-ataki-rf-na-zapad-ukrainy-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Poland scrambled fighters after Russia's overnight attack on western Ukraine; the air operation was completed by 10:00.
- According to Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, Russian drones operated a few kilometers from the Polish border, which was assessed as a "real and imminent" threat.
- No direct violation of Polish airspace was recorded; sirens sounded in the Lublin and Subcarpathian voivodeships.
- In the Yagodyn area, accounts of the strike's target differ: the SBU refuted a hit on the border crossing point, while "Ukrzaliznytsia" points to a train locomotive about 2 km from the border.

Russia's overnight attack on western regions of Ukraine in the night of September 13, 2026 forced Poland to scramble fighter jets. According to the Polish Joint Forces Command, some Russian drones operated and struck targets in close proximity to the Polish border, prompting Warsaw to assess the situation as a "real and imminent" threat. However, as the command emphasized, no direct violation of Polish airspace was recorded.

### A "real and imminent" threat at the border

Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, a spokesperson for the Polish Joint Forces Command, explained that during the Russian attack, some drones operated and hit targets located just a few, and in some directions a few dozen, kilometers from Polish territory. According to the officer, it was precisely this proximity of the strikes to the state border that formed the basis for assessing the situation as a "real and imminent" threat to the country.

### Four hours in the air and sirens in two voivodeships

About four hours after the attack began, the Polish Joint Forces Command reported the use of military aviation in response to the activity of Russian jet-powered drones striking Ukrainian territory. The fighters operated within Polish airspace, and by 10:00 the operation had been completed. During the air operation, the government security center sent an air threat alert to residents of the Lublin and Subcarpathian voivodeships: in six counties of the Lublin voivodeship, an alert about a possible air attack was in effect for several dozen minutes and sirens sounded.

### Alarm sounds in the Lublin voivodeship

Against the backdrop of the attack, the Polish police received a notification about a possible explosion in the Lublin voivodeship. Law enforcement officers went to two settlements — Szczecin in Krasnystaw County and Stojeshin Pierwszy in Janów County — where they tried to identify the source of the alarming sounds but found nothing. The DORSZ system suggested that the loud sound may have been caused by fighter jets breaking the sound barrier during the air operation.

### The border remained untouched

Despite the proximity of Russian strikes to the Polish border, no direct violation of the country's airspace was recorded. On the morning of September 13, Russian forces struck the area near the Ukrainian-Polish border in Yagodyn, which further increased the attention of Polish military to the situation on Ukraine's western border.

### Contradictory data

Accounts of what exactly was the target of the morning strike in Yagodyn differ. Social networks had previously spread information about a direct hit on the "Yagodyn" border crossing point. However, SBU spokesperson Andrii Demchenko refuted these claims, stating that the strike did not directly hit the border crossing point. In turn, "Ukrzaliznytsia" reported that the Russian attack was aimed at the locomotive of a passenger train located about two kilometers from the Polish border. Thus, the question of the exact target and the nature of the damage in the Yagodyn area remains to be clarified.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- ["The threat was real": Poland alarmed by Russia's overnight strike on western Ukraine](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/zagroza-bula-realnoyu-polshchi-zanepokoyilisya-1789300052.html) - Подтверждает оценку польского командования о «реальной» угрозе и близость действий российских беспилотников к границе.
- [Poland to scrap MiG-29s it promised to Ukraine: how critical is this for the AFU](https://glavred.info/world/polsha-utiliziruet-mig-29-kotorye-obeshchala-ukraine-povredit-li-eto-reshenie-vsu-10777832.html) - Подтверждено по источнику glavred.info
- [Poland scrambled aircraft over a "Russian threat" — but the border remained untouched](https://ukraina.ru/20260913/polsha-podnyala-aviatsiyu-iz-za-rossiyskoy-ugrozy--no-granitsa-ostalas-netronutoy-1083162755.html) - Подтверждает поднятие авиации и отсутствие нарушения воздушного пространства Польши.
- [Poland names the reason Ukraine has still not received the promised fighters](https://www.unian.net/weapons/mig-29-polsha-peredast-istrebiteli-ukraine-posle-zaversheniya-peregovorov-po-dronam-13413012.html) - Подтверждено по источнику unian.net

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Did Russian drones violate Polish airspace?
**A:** No, according to the Polish Joint Forces Command, no direct violation of the country's airspace was recorded; the fighters operated within Polish airspace as part of the operation.

### Q: How far from the Polish border did Russian drones operate?
**A:** According to Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, the distance ranges from a few to a few dozen kilometers from Polish territory.

### Q: What was the target of the morning strike in Yagodyn?
**A:** Accounts differ: social networks reported a hit on the "Yagodyn" border crossing point, but SBU spokesperson Andrii Demchenko refuted this, while "Ukrzaliznytsia" stated that the attack was aimed at the locomotive of a passenger train about two kilometers from the border.