At a press conference in Lublin, M. Kierwinski stated that Russia has changed its strategy and frequently attacks border points on the Poland-Ukraine border using rocket drones and missiles.
Read more Over UK military sites – hundreds of drone incidents: 340 cases recorded in a year
“We are increasingly taking measures to counter these threats,” he said, adding that at the beginning of 2024, only 30 sirens were operational in the region.
On Thursday, the civil airports of Lublin and Rzeszów temporarily suspended flights, and Polish and NATO fighters were scrambled to protect the region’s airspace during an intense Russian air raid in Western Ukraine. Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that a powerful explosion was heard just a few hundred meters from the Polish border at the Dorohusk crossing, where Russian forces struck a Ukrainian fuel depot.
On September 13, a Russian drone hit a passenger train locomotive at a railway station in Western Ukraine, about 2 km from the Polish border. The attack near the border also affected regional logistics – it occurred just after a diplomatic train with international officials had departed from the station.
Polish officials said that although the country’s airspace was not violated during these incidents, the proximity of the strikes poses a constant threat to the eastern flank. M. Kierwinski said that nearly 3,500 civilian shelters are prepared for emergencies in the voivodeship and warned that “there is very little time” to strengthen public preparedness.
Lublin and southeastern Subcarpathian Voivodeship held civil defense drills on Saturday to test the coordinated response of emergency services and local authorities.
