MADRID, September 13. /TASS/. Spain will join a NATO initiative to strengthen the alliance's positions on its eastern flank, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reported.
"Spain will contribute its air assets to the new security mechanism that NATO will deploy on the eastern flank of Europe," the prime minister wrote on his X page. "These assets will join those already in place in Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries and will remain there for as long as necessary," Sanchez added.
On September 12, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that the North Atlantic Alliance is launching Operation Eastern Sentinel to reinforce its positions on the eastern flank following an incident involving drones that violated Polish airspace. Rutte specified that the operation would launch soon and involve Denmark, France, the UK, and Germany, among others.
Early on September 10, the Polish army’s operational command announced the destruction of several objects identified as drones after they violated the country’s airspace. According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the country’s airspace was violated 19 times in the early morning hours of September 10. In connection with the incident, NATO, at Poland's request, invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty to begin consultations with alliance members.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukrainian military and industrial facilities in western Ukraine overnight. No targets in Poland were planned. The range of the drones that allegedly crossed the border with Poland does not exceed 700 kilometers. Nevertheless, the Russian Defense Ministry said it is ready to consult with Poland on this matter. Later, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin had no new comments on the incident.