Russia’s actions are irresponsible and dangerous, NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said, after Polish authorities said it was likely a Russian drone that entered Polish airspace during Monday’s massive bombing of Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, parts of Russian drones and missiles have been repeatedly found in the territories of allied countries – Dakhlallah reported.
He added that “unless we have information indicating that this was a direct attack by Russia against its allies, these actions are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
On Monday morning, Russia carried out a massive attack on Ukraine, targeting mainly Ukrainian energy infrastructure, also in regions located near the border with Poland.
Operational Commander General Maciej Klisz and Command Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski reported that during this attack on the radars an object was detected entering Polish airspace at a depth of approximately 25 km.
The Polish army was prepared to shoot down an unidentified aerial object that flew into our country from Ukraine in the morning, but it was not possible to confirm with certainty what type of unit it was. The military unofficially claims that it is likely a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone.
The military marked the area where it could fall unmanned aerial vehicle. The area is being searched by patrols. A helicopter is also used.
This object could very well have returned to Ukrainian territory, so we must investigate all possibilities – so that its possible presence does not pose any threat to local residents. – emphasizes Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski in an interview with RMF FM reporter Krzysztof Zasada.
As he points out, the object has long been tracked by Polish airspace monitoring systems.
During the entire time (of the object – editor’s note) in the airspace, both our on-duty teams and the on-duty helicopters that had already been picked up earlier (…) were in the air to make the final identification of this object. This identification had to be made before the decision to neutralize the object was taken. (…) However, this final identification was not possible due to the weather conditions – says the lieutenant colonel.
The object – before disappearing from the screens – was over Poland 33 minutes.
The border was crossed in 6:43. Records from our radio stations – flight altitude, speed, trajectory – indicate that it was unmanned aircraft. (…) Because we ruled out the possibility of it being a rocket or a guided missile due to its speed. The loss of signal occurred at about 7:16 a.m., that is, after thirty-three minutes, at the height of the Tyszowce commune. A search area was designated there – reports the lieutenant colonel.
Krzysztof Zasada’s interlocutor asked why the signal disappearedanswer: It can be assumed that it crashed somewhere or that its flight altitude was such that our radar systems were unable to continue observations – editor’s note. It could very well have turned around and descended to such an altitude that it was no longer visible to our radar systems.
There are no reports of damage to the ground yet. We do not have this information, it has not reached us. We are in contact with the local authorities, the police and the services that operate in the area and none of the residents have reported or observed any anomalies. Therefore, we are not yet sure that something could have fallen. There is also a densely wooded area there, so there may well have been a fall there. – emphasizes Jacek Goryszewski.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, missiles have broken through the Polish border several times during missile strikes. In November 2022 in the village Wires in the province A bomb fell in Lublin, killing two people. In December of the same year, the Russian Ch-55 rocket crashed in forest near Bydgoszczand the discovery of his remains was announced in April 2023.
Moreover, on several occasions, missiles entered Polish airspace near the border with Ukraine for several tens of seconds, but left it without landing on Polish territory.
