The Polish military scrambled an F-16 fighter jet overnight to intercept an unidentified object in Lublin Voivodeship. Later, an explosion crater was discovered near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia.
According to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, air defence radars detected the activity of at least 10 Russian missiles over western Ukraine overnight that could have posed a potential threat to Poland.
At 3:29 a.m., one of the objects approached to within 5 km of the Polish border before turning around and flying east.
At around 3:40 a.m., an unidentified object moving westward was detected in Polish airspace. An F-16 fighter jet was dispatched to identify and intercept it.
At 3:46 a.m., before the object could be identified, it disappeared from radar.
“To verify and conclusively confirm the radar’s technical readings, a Mi-24 helicopter was dispatched to the area where the object was last detected. The helicopter crew identified a probable crash site in an undeveloped area near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin Voivodeship. A ground search-and-rescue team and the relevant services were dispatched to the scene,” the statement said.
Earlier, Polish media reported the discovery of a 10-metre crater and fragments of an unidentified object near the village. Local residents said they heard a loud noise resembling an explosion during the night. They also reported that windows in nearby buildings shook.
Air raid sirens were activated overnight in most counties of Lublin Voivodeship.
Last September, about two dozen Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Most of them were decoy drones. Earlier, in 2023, a Ukrainian air defence missile that had gone off course struck a border settlement in Poland, killing two people.
