Object Crashes in Eastern Poland, Leaving 10m Crater

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that an unidentified object that crashed into a field in eastern Poland in the early hours of Thursday was likely a Russian missile. The object left a 10m-wide (33ft) crater in the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, located about 100km (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border, while the incident occurred during a Russian attack on the city of Lviv.

Alleged Russian Kh-101 Missile Involved

Tusk mentioned during a specially convened meeting in Lublin that all the indications point to the missile being a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile, as However, he emphasized the need to be 100% certain about the missile’s type and the launcher. Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha earlier claimed a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had crossed into Poland, violating NATO airspace as part of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Poland’s Response and Ongoing Investigations

Tusk noted that he had been in contact with fellow European leaders before visiting the site of the incident — he confirmed there were no casualties, but the situation was being treated as serious. He added that Poland was prepared to shoot down the missile if it had continued its flight. The object was detected by the Polish military at about 03:40 on Thursday (01:40 GMT), and an F-16 fighter jet was dispatched to intercept it before it disappeared from radar. A military helicopter was then sent to search the area.

Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that about 20 objects were seen near Polish airspace overnight, and pyrotechnical analysis is ongoing to identify the object that fell near Tarnawa Kolonia. Air raid sirens were sounded in Lublin and Krasnystaw due to the Russian airstrikes that killed eight people in neighboring Ukraine, but Residents in Tarnawa Kolonia reported hearing a loud bang at about 04:00, and police discovered the crash site an hour later.

Poland has experienced several incidents of Russian drones and one unarmed Russian missile landing in the country since the start of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. In November 2022. Two Polish farmers were killed by a missile that landed just over the border from Ukraine, believed to have been a Ukrainian air defence missile responding to a Russian attack.