Drones are being detected 300–350 km from the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders, as most attacks came from that country’s territory. Millions of Poles received danger alerts, and air raid sirens sounded in some cities.On Saturday, Polish and Dutch aircraft took off again, air raid sirens sounded in two cities in the Lublin Voivodeship near the border with Ukraine, and the airport in Lublin itself was closed.For Poles, the war is no longer abroad — it is “ours.” Most understand that, without waiting for the outcome of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Moscow intends to keep advancing. War is the essence of Putin and his circle’s rule; without it, they cannot survive, just as their country cannot.NATO has been tested. By shooting down four drones over Poland, the Alliance experienced both the limits of its weaknesses and constraints, as well as its strengths and capabilities.For Ukrainians, the idea of NATO’s “strength and capabilities” may seem absurd, as in one night we destroy or disable not 4 but over 700 drones, including armed drones and decoys. It is true — and also true that Alliance aircraft used missiles worth hundreds of thousands of euros to destroy cheap, unarmed drones.An important starting point, however, is that until September 10, NATO had a ban on destroying Russian drones and missiles entering Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and Estonia - ostensibly “to avoid escalation,” as NATO officials declared.On September 10, "escalation" became necessary as strategic NATO sites were threatened — specifically the infrastructure and security of Rzeszów’s Jasionka Airport, a key logistics hub for delivering military aid to Ukraine from Western allies.Following the order to shoot down Russian drones, NATO made another critical decision: the eastern flank’s airspace will be protected under Operation Eastern Sentry, with France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, and several other countries declaring readiness to participate.And only one country made no declaration, despite having 10,000 troops stationed in Poland, including for protecting Jasionka Airport. That country is, of course, the U.S., whose officials still claim there is insufficient evidence that the drone attack on Poland was deliberate.This is the view of General Christopher G. Cavoli, Commander of NATO Forces in Europe. At the same time, according to the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command’s assessment on September 10, the Russian drone incursion was a deliberate attack. It was likely based on this assessment that NATO’s European command decided to shoot down the four drones.On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, “There's no doubt about the drones were intentionally launched.  The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland specifically.” He called the incident “unacceptable, unfortunate, and dangerous.”President Donald Trump called the Russian drone attack a “mistake,” a claim immediately rejected by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said he has indisputable evidence supporting his assessment. Other European leaders, the President of the European Commission, NATO’s Secretary General, and even General Keith Kellogg — the U.S. President’s special envoy to Ukraine — also expressed no doubt about the deliberate nature of the attack.The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces released maps showing the flight paths of Russian drones toward Poland. Polish SIM cards were also found in the drones, providing indisputable evidence of their route over Polish territory.So what explains the “strange,” to say the least, stance of the U.S. administration and military?The answer can be broken down into several points. The main one is Washington’s inability to acknowledge its strategic mistake in assessing Putin’s regime, its criminal nature, and expansionist goals. Recognizing that the Russians carried out a deliberate attack, targeting even areas with American troops, would require this admission.Acknowledging these facts would have demanded an immediate response, especially since the Russian “escalatory move,” as Rubio called it, affects not only Poland and NATO’s eastern flank but also directly threatens the U.S. Russia has shown that even the presence of American forces in Poland does not prevent it from attacking Alliance members and creating a threat to U.S. units.Putin sent a clear message: he is ready to act aggressively against NATO members. But is Trump ready to respond? No, he isn’t.The Russian drone attack called into question Trump’s commitment to maintain U.S. military presence in Poland, a promise he made during a September 3 White House meeting with President Karol Nawrocki. This explains the firm statements and actions of the Polish government, particularly by Prime Minister Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski.Under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, Poland requested consultations with other NATO members, resulting in the launch of Operation Eastern Sentry. The drone attack was also discussed at the UN Security Council, where Poland’s position was clearly presented by Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki.The Polish government’s leaders are acting correctly, because if Trump is allowed to avoid taking action against Russia today by calling it a “mistake,” he is likely to take the same approach in future armed drone attacks.What conclusions should we draw from this situation?The key point is that today only the Ukrainian army is ready to confront a war involving drones, robots, and artificial intelligence. As General Kellogg said, in the production and use of drones, Ukrainian forces have outpaced the Pentagon. This is further proof that Ukraine is defending not only its own independence but also the security of Europe and NATO.Thus, despite Russian propaganda and those in the West claiming “this is not our war,” the reality is clear: Ukraine has become a sort of “security donor” during Russia’s aggression and that of its authoritarian allies against freedom, democracy, and the entire West.Trump’s letter to NATO members, threatening not to impose new sanctions on Russia and its supporters, revealed the weakness of Washington’s position. After seven months of attempts to secure peace in Ukraine, the only result he achieved was repeating the false narrative of a “Biden-Zelenskyy war” and blaming allies. He cannot get anything from Putin and doesn’t even try.Poland’s insistence that all NATO members, especially the U.S., recognize the deliberate nature of the Russian attack strengthens efforts to secure security guarantees for Ukraine, which — according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — are essentially ready. Fulfilling the commitments made by the U.S. to protect Poland would demonstrate that they would take similar obligations toward Ukraine seriously. As Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni notes, security guarantees for Ukraine are essentially equivalent to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.Finally, the Russian drone attack on Poland once again demonstrated that the way the war ends and peace is secured on our land depends primarily on the heroism and professionalism of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the production capabilities of Ukraine’s defense industry, and the resilience of our people and state. Everything else is secondary. No Trump will deliver peace to Ukrainians as a gift.SourceAbout the author: Mykola Kniazhytskyi, Ukrainian journalist and MPThe editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog or column authors.