Poland Says Drone Likely Entered Airspace During Strike on Ukraine

Poland’s army said on Monday the NATO nation’s airspace was violated, probably by a drone, after deadly Russian strikes battered Ukraine.

A Russian barrage hit Ukraine with more than 100 missiles and around 100 drones, including in its western regions, killing at least four people and targeting its energy infrastructure.

During the attacks, the Polish airspace was violated by an object entering from Ukraine, Poland’s army general said.

“We are probably dealing with the entry of an object on Polish territory. The object was confirmed by at least three radiolocation stations,” Operational Commander of the Armed Forces General Maciej Klisz told reporters.

“It is clear from its characteristics that the object is not a missile, it is not a hypersonic, ballistic or guided missile,” Klisz added.

The army said it was conducting searches for what was “probably an unmanned aerial vehicle” around 30 kilometers (18 miles) into Polish territory from the Ukrainian border.

“There was full readiness to neutralize this object,” army command spokesman Jacek Goryszewski said.

According to him, “it is highly likely that it could have been a Shahed-type drone” of Iranian design, used by the Russian army.

“But this has to be verified,” he told AFP, adding that it could not be ruled out that the drone had already left Polish territory.

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Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European nations to help down drones and missiles over Ukraine.

“In our various regions of Ukraine, we could do much more to protect lives if the aviation of our European neighbours worked together with our F-16s and together with our air defence,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.

In March, Poland reported a breach of its airspace by a Russian cruise missile, demanding an explanation from Moscow.

A similar incident occurred on December 29, 2023, when a Russian missile penetrated Polish airspace for several minutes before returning to Ukraine.

In November 2022, two people were killed when a Ukrainian air-defense missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, close to the Ukrainian border.