Poland said that aircraft have been scrambled to protect its airspace due to Russian strikes on Ukraine.
“In connection with the activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory … aircraft of the Polish Air Force and allied aviation are operating in Polish airspace,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said on X.
Yesterday, Polish officials said a Russian drone crashed in a field in the east of the country, an incident the defence minister described as a provocation.
The drone hit and scorched a cornfield in the village of Osiny in the eastern Lublin province, just over 100km from the Ukrainian border and around 90km from Belarus.
The blast shattered windows in several homes, but nobody was injured, national news agency PAP reported.
Police said they found burnt metal and plastic debris at the site and that corn had been burnt in an area of 8-10m diameter around the spot where the object fell.
The drone fell in a corn field in the eastern Lublin province
Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pawel Wronski said some experts have suggested a Russian version of the Shahed drone developed by Iran was involved in the latest incident.
General Dariusz Malinowski said the drone appeared to be a decoy which was designed to self-destruct.
He said it had a Chinese engine.
Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as defence minister, said the incident bore similarities to cases in which Russian drones flew into Lithuania and Romania, and could be linked to efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing with it in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace (in Ukraine) are under way,” he told journalists.
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X his ministry would issue a protest against the airspace violation but did not name the perpetrator.
“Another violation of our airspace from the East confirms that Poland’s most important mission towards NATO is the defence of our own territory.”
In Ukraine, a combined Russian drone and missile attack on the western city of Lviv killed one person and injured two more, Lviv regional governor said.
Tens of residential houses were also damaged in the attack, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Accreditation: Reuters