As was suspected, it turned out to be the Russian cruise missile “Kh-101,” reported Poland’s Deputy Minister of National Defense Cezary Tomczyk after a conversation with the country’s Armed Forces operational commander General Maciej Klisz.
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He noted that the “Kh-101” is a cruise missile capable of carrying various types of warheads, including nuclear ones. This missile exploded after crashing into the ground on Polish territory.
On Thursday, the news portal “TVP World,” citing the Polish prosecutor’s office, reported that the cruise missile contained a “large” amount of explosives.
“Most likely, we are dealing with a ‘Kh-101’ missile that contained a large amount of explosive material,” said prosecutor’s office representative Marcin Kozak.
According to C. Tomczyk, around 3 a.m. on Thursday, during Russian shelling, about 20 missiles flew towards Polish territory. In total, Russian forces used 73 missiles against Ukraine. The majority of those flying towards western Ukraine were intercepted by Ukrainian air defense forces.
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It turned out that one of the missiles was pursued by a Ukrainian Armed Forces pilot, but 20 seconds before the Polish border, he stopped tracking it. The official noted that the Ukrainian aircraft could not enter Polish airspace without permission, and Polish F-16 fighters could have considered it hostile.
C. Tomczyk emphasized that Polish forces monitored the course of the Russian attack and controlled the situation at the border from the very beginning.
“This was one of the largest missile attacks in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, we have observed several hundred objects, usually these were attack drones. Usually, the Russians attack with 10–20 missiles, but in this case, about 70 missiles were launched in total, of which around 3 a.m. (Polish time) 20 missiles flew towards Poland,” he said.
It was previously reported that further procedural actions and missile fragment examination are scheduled for Friday, July 31. Investigators have already collected many missile fragments and indicated that, with the participation of an expert from Ukraine, they will conduct a detailed examination.
