Poland formally requested NATO Article 4 consultations on Tuesday after Russian drones struck close to its border, the Polish foreign ministry said. The move escalated tensions over repeated Russian incursions near alliance airspace and forced allied ambassadors to convene in Brussels.

A Russian drone struck a rail link connecting Kyiv and Warsaw, landing roughly two kilometres from Polish territory, according to Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. Ukraine's government urged NATO to act, warning that Russian munitions were reaching the alliance's frontier.

Article 4 allows any member to demand consultations when it believes its territorial integrity or security is threatened. Poland previously triggered the mechanism after earlier drone violations of its airspace, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has pledged reinforced air defences along the eastern flank.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw would seek concrete commitments on integrated air and missile defence rather than statements of solidarity. He said Poland reserved the right to shoot down objects entering its airspace.

The Kremlin denied deliberately targeting Polish territory. The consultations placed fresh pressure on NATO capitals already weighing how to respond to a widening pattern of Russian drone activity along the Ukrainian border, from the Baltic states to Romania.