Poland has confirmed that a drone likely entered its airspace during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine, prompting the country to scramble jets and launch a search operation. The incident occurred early on Monday morning, as Russia launched over 100 missiles and 100 attack drones at Ukraine, killing at least five people and striking energy facilities nationwide.
According to the Polish army’s operational command spokesperson, Jacek Goryszewski, the object was detected near the Ukrainian town of Chervonohrad at 0443 GMT and was lost from radar tracking shortly after. Goryszewski stated that the trajectory and speed of the object indicated it was likely a drone, rather than a missile.
A search operation is currently underway, involving 100 soldiers and a helicopter, to locate the object, which may have landed on Polish territory. However, due to weather conditions, visual identification of the object was not possible, and it remains unclear whether it was of Russian or Ukrainian origin.
Poland has been on high alert since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the country in 2022, killing two people. This incident has raised concerns about the ongoing conflict in the region and the potential risks to neighboring countries. The Polish army has stated that they were prepared to shoot down the object if necessary but were unable to do so due to lack of visual identification.