Poland says ‘everything indicates’ Russian missile briefly crossed country’s airspace
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense forces said an unknown object
entered the country’s airspace Friday morning from the direction of
Ukraine and then vanished off radars, and that all indications pointed
to it being a Russian missile.
“Everything indicates that a Russian missile intruded in Poland’s
airspace. It was monitored by us on radars and left the airspace. We
have confirmation of this on radars and from allies” in NATO, said
Poland’s defense chief, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła
Poland’s defense forces said the object penetrated about 40
kilometers (24 miles) into its airspace and left it after less than
three minutes. The defense forces said both its radar and NATO radar
confirmed that the object left Polish airspace.
Kukula said steps were being taken to verify those findings and eliminate the possibility of a technical error.
There was no comment from Russian officials.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on X, formerly Twitter,
that he had spoken with Poland’s president about the “missile incident”
and said NATO was vigilant and monitoring the situation “as the facts
are established.”
It was not immediately clear where the object disappeared from radar
or in which direction it had been going. Troops were mobilized to
identify and find it. There were no immediate reports of any explosion
or casualties.
The governor of Lublin province in eastern Poland, Krzysztof
Komorski, told the Onet news portal that the object appeared on radars
near the town of Hrubieszow, where a border crossing with Ukraine is
located. Komorski said he had no information to indicate it landed in
Lublin province.
Poland’s border with Ukraine is also the European Union and NATO border with Ukraine.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened a meeting with the defense
minister, military commanders and heads of national security bodies,
followed by a meeting of the National Security Bureau with President
Andrzej Duda, the supreme commander of Poland’s armed forces.
Duda said through an aide that there was “no threat at the moment”
and nothing to suggest that ”anything bad” should be expected.
“The most important is that no one was hurt,” said the aide, Grazyna Ignaczak-Bandych.
On Friday, Ukrainian officials said Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones
against Ukrainian targets overnight in what an air force official
called the biggest aerial barrage since Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine in February 2022.
It was not clear whether the object that Poland reported was related to the barrage.
“As a result of such massive attacks, this can happen. The enemy is
attacking our border territories, including in the west. This is another
signal for our partners to strengthen the Ukrainian air defense,” Yurii
Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force, said on national
television about the incident.
Poland has been supporting Ukraine with military, humanitarian and political assistance.
This is not the first time an unauthorized object has entered
Poland’s airspace from the direction of Ukraine since Russia’s
full-scale invasion. In November 2022, two men were killed when a
missile struck the village of Przewodow, a few kilometers from the
border. Western officials said they believed a Ukrainian air defense
missile went astray.
