“The first violation of Polish airspace by drones was recorded on September 9 at approximately 11:30 p.m., and the last – on September 10, 2025 at 6:30 a.m. At the moment when the first reports began reaching newsrooms, before 1:00 a.m. on September 10, only TV Republika was broadcasting live. The remaining stations were airing reruns from the previous day,” wrote the National Broadcasting Council in its latest report.
It was the station belonging to the House of Free Speech that was the first to inform the public about the events of the night of September 9/10, 2025.
The night of September 9-10 was when Polish airspace was violated by Russian drones. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces stated in its ongoing communications that Polish airspace “was violated multiple times by drone-type objects.” The first breach was recorded around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday (September 9), and the last around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday (September 10).
TV Republika was the first television station in Poland to switch to special coverage mode, informing Poles about what was happening. For nearly the entire night, the House of Free Speech station reported developments in real time.
Several days after the overt threat to the security of Polish citizens, the Niezalezna.pl portal established that the number of drones approaching Poland during the night and early morning from Tuesday to Wednesday was significantly higher than 21 – the number initially reported – and closer to 50. At the last moment, over the territory of Belarus, some of the objects launched from Russia changed their flight direction.
The National Broadcasting Council Report – Reference to That Night
The National Broadcasting Council published a monitoring report on news programs following the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones in September of last year.
More than 120 hours of live broadcasts from Poland’s leading television stations were analyzed. The review included: TV Republika, wPolsce24, TVP Info in liquidation, Polsat News, and TVN24. The analysis showed that none of the stations broadcast content violating the Broadcasting Act or content threatening the health or safety of citizens.
The report noted that programs repeatedly reassured the public and urged viewers to rely on official, verified sources of information. In doing so, they warned against disinformation.
“The unprecedented threat we faced on September 10 last year was a test of the responsibility of news media. Our monitoring confirmed that broadcasters upheld the standards set out in the Broadcasting Act. Although at the beginning official statements from government institutions were incomplete and did not always provide precise explanations, we did not record content spreading panic, inciting public anxiety, downplaying the threat, or constituting disinformation. At the same time, the analysis demonstrated how important it is to rapidly activate crisis procedures and efficiently transition to special coverage in the first hours of extraordinary events,” stated Dr. Agnieszka Glapiak, Chair of the National Broadcasting Council.
Republika’s Key Role
The report further demonstrated that Republika was the first station nationwide to report live on the drone attack – just before 1:00 a.m. It noted that the other analyzed stations were airing reruns from the previous day.
“Republika used its overnight broadcast to provide live studio updates on the nature and scale of the threat. The wPolsce24 channel did not report on the events at that time. The newsrooms of TVP Info, TVN24 and Polsat News limited their overnight coverage to ticker headlines labeled ‘Urgent,’ doing so consistently until launching special editions,” the report reads.
And further: “All monitored programs switched to special coverage mode in the early morning hours – six hours after the start of the Russian drone operation against Poland. The earliest special edition was launched by TVP Info at 5:26 a.m. At 5:30 a.m., Polsat News transitioned to live special coverage. TV Republika began its special edition at 5:42 a.m., TVN24 – with the broadcast of ‘Poranek TVN24’ at 5:54 a.m., while wPolsce24 first informed viewers about the drone attack at 6:00 a.m.”
Tomasz Sakiewicz: We Break Through the Strongest
Niezalezna.pl asked the President of TV Republika for comment on the National Broadcasting Council report.
“The National Broadcasting Council report confirms that Republika – despite being under constant attack, attacked both as an institution and through its journalists and management, prosecuted in courts, subjected to provocations, and facing campaigns against our collaborators and advertisers – is the first station to report the most important events. We break through the strongest. And above all – we do not avoid topics others are afraid of. We also have excellent sources of information,” said Tomasz Sakiewicz.
In his view, “it is interesting that pro-government media either do not have or do not publish such information, although it should rather originate from those circles… Are they complying with some orders, or are they so inept that they are unable to provide it?”
“There is no doubt that without Republika today there would be a massive gap in Poland’s media system,” added the head of TV Republika.
Michał Rachoń: This Would Not Be Possible Without Our Journalists and Wonderful Viewers
We also spoke with Republika’s program director, Michał Rachoń, who pointed out that “none of this would be possible without fantastic journalists who understand what reporting work is about.”
But that is not all.
“From the very beginning of its existence, TV Republika has placed enormous emphasis on describing Russian threats, including the military threats from Russia that we have recently been facing. Because they are real. Our station’s coverage of this story, as well as the exposure of acts of sabotage on the Polish railway several months later, is the result of the tremendous trust viewers place in our station. Clearly interpreting such threats, they know that our station is a very good source of information. They also know that our journalists will treat this type of information reliably and seriously,” Rachoń assessed.
“All of this is only possible because our viewers support and continually maintain – which is extremely important – the modern and fast-acting technological structure that is TV Republika. This, in turn, is possible only because viewers financed and maintained the cutting-edge technical infrastructure we use,” he admitted.
Jarosław Olechowski: We Want Our Viewers at the Epicenter of Events
“Our ambition is to always take our viewers to the epicenter of events. So that they do not receive second- or third-hand reports. We want them to know what is happening in real time and to draw their own conclusions. As soon as it became clear – we received information that these drones were in public airspace and heading toward Poland – we decided to provide live coverage and a special edition. Among Polish media, we were the only television station reporting on it live, despite the late hour,” said Jarosław Olechowski, head of editors at Republika, in an interview with the portal.