Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz intend to visit the explosion site in the fields near Lublin, located about 80 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, a government spokesperson said.
According to Polish media, Polish officials have not yet definitively determined the cause of the crater, but it occurred after Russia launched a new massive attack on the Lviv region in Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland.
The incident site is guarded by police officers, and investigative actions are being carried out.
Earlier, Poland had urgently scrambled fighter jets due to Russian strikes in Ukraine.
Defense Minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz said it was an “extremely difficult night” for the country’s air defense and threat detection systems, adding that authorities are currently trying to determine what type of object fell in the Lublin region.
D. Tusk said that during Russia’s large-scale missile attack on Western Ukraine, “Polish airspace was violated.”
This was also said on Thursday by the President of the European Council (EC), Antonio Costa. He stated on the social network “X”: “Last night Russia launched a massive coordinated strike on Ukraine. During the attack, Polish airspace was also violated, which once again emphasizes that Russian aggression poses a threat to the security of all Europe.”
Residents of Tarnawa Kolonia village near Lublin reported hearing an explosion around 4 a.m. local time (5 a.m. Lithuanian time), which shook the windows of their homes, according to a police statement.
The police went to a field about two kilometers from the village houses and found a crater 10 meters wide and “debris of an unidentified object,” the statement said.
The Armed Forces command reported that a Mi-24 helicopter flew over the incident site and that the crew reported a “probable impact site of the object on undeveloped land.”
Officials announced Thursday morning that the country’s air defense systems monitored the activity of a dozen missiles flying over Western Ukraine; due to their flight path, they could pose a potential threat to Polish airspace.
According to the operational command of the Polish Armed Forces, at about 3:40 a.m. local time (4:40 a.m. Lithuanian time), an unidentified object flying westward was detected in the country’s airspace.
Later, the object disappeared from radar screens, so the military sent a helicopter to the last known location.
Russian missile
Local residents said the sound of the explosion was unlike anything they had experienced before.
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“We have lived here all our lives and have never heard anything like this. The windows almost shattered,” one resident told the local media outlet “Lublin 112.”
“What was it – a drone or a bomb? People say it was some kind of missile,” another added.
Polish media wrote that the government leans toward the opinion that a Russian missile fell in the Tarnawa Kolonia village in the Lublin Voivodeship during the night.
D. Tusk, quoted by the portal “TVP World,” said at an emergency meeting: “There are all signs that it was a Russian (…) Kh-101 missile, but we want to be 100 percent sure about the missile type and who launched it.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated on the social network “X” that a Russian missile violated Polish airspace on the night leading into Thursday.
A. Sybiha said it was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile that entered Polish territory during Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine, thus violating NATO airspace.
“This is another clear confirmation that strengthening Ukraine’s air defense is now an urgent task and serves as a guarantee for the protection of the entire Euro-Atlantic community,” emphasized the Ukrainian minister.
He noted that a total of 74 missiles – many of them ballistic – and hundreds of drones were launched at Ukraine that night.
“V. Putin’s terror clearly demonstrates that the need to strengthen Ukraine’s and all of Europe’s missile defense is urgent. Every decision on additional air defense measures for Ukraine must now be made immediately, and all agreements on additional interceptors must be implemented as quickly as possible,” stressed A. Sybiha.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Russian missile incursion into Polish territory also reminds that the countries “have nothing more urgent than to resist a common, eternal enemy who poses a direct threat to both nations.”
“All other disagreements during this brutal war must be set aside. Our priority must be our common security. Ukraine informs all partners and international organizations about the consequences of this attack,” added A. Sybiha.
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