Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary A. Dicarlo
Remarks to the Security Council on Threats to International Peaec and Security
New York, 12 September 2025
Mr. President,
We noted with deep concern the reports that Russian military drones entered Poland, in violation of Polish airspace.
Our briefing today relies entirely on publicly available information. The United Nations is not in a position to verify or confirm claims or reports regarding the incident.
On 10 September Poland informed the President of the Security Council that during the night of 9 and 10 September, 19 Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Some of them were shot down pre-emptively.
This is not the first time that drones have been detected in neighbouring countries during the full-scale war in Ukraine. But it is the first time that multiple drones have flown so deep into a neighbouring country’s airspace.
It is also the first time that force was used by Poland and its NATO allies to neutralize the perceived threat.
According to Poland’s Ministry of Interior and Administration, wreckage from some 16 drones has been found across central and eastern Poland.
Media reports suggest that at least some of these devices were so-called Gerbera drones used by the Russian Federation in the war in Ukraine.
The drones reportedly caused damage in residential areas in the Polish villages of Wyryki and Czosnowka. Drone debris was also reported in the town of Czesniki. Fortunately, Polish authorities reported no casualties.
Four major airports, including those in Warsaw and Rzeszów, were temporarily closed, and flights diverted.
Poland authorities stated that some of the drones entered from Belarus.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense claimed that the Russian drones were deflected by counter-drone measures of Ukrainian forces and veered off course.
Belarus stated that it had alerted Poland and Lithuania as drones approached their airspace. This was confirmed by the Polish military. Belarus also reported that its air defences intercepted several drones over its territory.
Following the incident, Poland introduced restrictions to air traffic in the eastern part of the country in areas neighbouring Belarus and Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation stated that Russia had no intention to engage any targets on the territory of Poland.
The Russian authorities acknowledged carrying out, during the same time period, a “massive strike with long-range, land-based, sea-based, and air-based high precision weapons, as well as attack drones against the Ukrainian defence industry” in Western Ukrainian regions.
The Russian Federation also expressed readiness to hold consultations with Polish authorities on the matter.
Following the incident, Poland invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which lead to consultations among the allies on 10 September.
Mr. President,
We reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for all concerned to act responsibly and to avoid any action and rhetoric that would further escalate already dangerously high tensions.
This alarming incident took place against the backdrop of continued large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
According to President Zelenskyy, during the night of 9 to 10 September, Russia launched 415 drones and over 40 cruise and ballistic missiles against 15 regions of Ukraine, resulting in civilian casualties, including at least one death.
On 9 September, in the frontline village of Yarova in Donetsk region, a guided bomb reportedly struck a group of mostly elderly civilians waiting for pension payments, killing at least 24 and injuring 18.
On 7 September, Russian attacks across Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, Sumy and Chernihiv killed and injured civilians and damaged civilian infrastructure. Among those killed was a woman with her newborn child in Kyiv.
In central Kyiv, a government building – housing the offices of Ukraine’s Prime Minister – was struck for the first time since the start of the war, marking a further escalation.
New Russian aerial attacks were reported again on the night of 10 and 11 September.
The intensification of the war is borne out by the growing number of casualties.
According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 208 civilians were killed and 827 injured in Ukraine in August 2025 alone. Short-range drones caused the highest number of casualties, killing 58 and injuring 272 civilians last August.
August and September also saw an increase in attacks affecting energy infrastructure, particularly gas facilities, once again raising fears of a new wave of targeted attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure ahead of the approaching winter.
We are equally concerned about the continuing impact of the war on civilians in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine and within the Russian Federation.
On 8 September, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine, Russian officials reported that two people were killed and 16 people were injured by an alleged Ukrainian drone strike.
A day earlier, an alleged Ukrainian attack reportedly struck a playground, injuring six civilians, including a 14-year-old girl, in the same region, according to Russian officials.
Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They are unacceptable and must end immediately, wherever they occur.
Mr. President,
This week’s events underline the dangerous impact of this war on the security of the region and the risk of escalation.
This incident also endangers the recent diplomatic efforts to achieve an end to this unprovoked and brutal war.
We, therefore, once again urgently call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine.
The end state must be a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The United Nations remains available to support all genuine efforts to this end.
Thank you.