President Donald Trump said a Russian drone incursion into Poland that occurred during an attack on Ukraine earlier this week could have been an accident.
European leaders have accused Russia of sending drones into Polish airspace to test the NATO alliance’s readiness.
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“Could’ve been a mistake. Could’ve been a mistake, but regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation, but hopefully it’s gonna come to an end,” Trump said Thursday.
Trump on Russian Drones in Poland: Could’ve been a mistake pic.twitter.com/lrfCQd3eCl
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 11, 2025
Europe said the strike was intentional. “This was a deliberate and coordinated strike constituting an unprecedented provocation and escalation of tension,” the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine said in a joint statement Thursday.
Polish officials said Russian drones pierced their airspace 19 times from late Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.
A senior Marine official told lawmakers Thursday he believed Russia’s drone incursion into Polish airspace earlier this week was most likely intentional.
“If it wasn’t [intentional], there’s some significant incompetence there,” Gen. Christopher Mahoney, the current assistant commandant of the Marine Corps and Trump’s nominee to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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The incursion signaled an escalation in Russia’s aggression against the West even as it battles Ukraine.
“If the Russians meant to do it, it was provocative. If they didn’t mean to do it, it’s an indication of incompetence. At any rate, I think what we’re seeing is the Polish armed forces, from their increase in defense spending to their increase in capability, being emblematic of that balance that we need to do,” Mahoney added.