Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said an object that crashed in eastern Poland during Russia’s latest overnight assault on Ukraine was most likely a Russian cruise missile.
The missile landed near the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, about 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Having left a crater measuring approximately 10 metres wide.
Speaking after an emergency security meeting in the eastern city of Lublin, Tusk said initial evidence strongly suggested the object was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
After visiting the impact site, he said military experts had recovered fragments that further supported that assessment.
“The majority of the recovered fragments point to it being a Russian Kh-101 missile,” Tusk said.
No casualties were reported because the missile landed in an open field rather than a populated area.
The Polish leader stressed, however, that the incident was being treated with the utmost seriousness.
He said Poland’s armed forces had been prepared to shoot down the missile had it continued further into the country’s airspace.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said around 20 aerial objects were detected close to Polish airspace during the night. However, forensic and pyrotechnical analysis of the recovered debris remains ongoing.
Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also stated that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had crossed into Polish territory during Moscow’s large-scale attack on Ukraine, describing it as a violation of NATO airspace.
The incident occurred during one of Russia’s largest overnight attacks in recent weeks. Missiles and drones struck several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Lviv, and areas near Kryvyi Rih. With confirmation that at least eight people were killed, including six members of one family. Dozens of others were injured across the country.
European Leaders React
European Council President António Costa said the latest Russian assault demonstrated once again that Moscow’s aggression represented a threat to the security of the entire continent.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several drones and missiles have entered Polish territory.
A more serious incident occurred in November 2022, when two Polish farmers were killed after a missile landed near the border. Investigators later concluded that projectile was likely a Ukrainian air defence missile fired in response to a Russian attack.
According to the Polish military, Thursday’s object was detected at approximately 03:40 local time. This prompted the deployment of an F-16 fighter jet to intercept it. The object disappeared from radar minutes later, after which a military helicopter was dispatched to search the area.
Residents of Tarnawa Kolonia reported hearing a loud explosion shortly before police located the impact site.
The incident came just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky met Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Lublin.
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