Warsaw, Poland. An object that came down in eastern Poland overnight appears to have been a Russian missile, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday after authorities found a crater and scattered debris in a field near Tarnawa-Kolonia.
Poland scrambled fighter jets after Russian airstrikes killed at least eight people in neighbouring Ukraine and reached as far west as Lviv. Tusk said the object landed in an uninhabited area and posed no direct threat.
Investigation underway
“All the indications are that it was a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile, but we want to be 100% certain about the type of missile and who launched it,” Tusk told an emergency meeting.
He later visited the site near Tarnawa-Kolonia, located just over 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Tusk said Poland had been prepared to shoot down the missile had it continued its flight.
No indication Poland was targeted
“There is no reason to think the target was Poland,” Tusk said, adding that Ukrainian fighter pilots had attempted to intercept missiles approaching the Polish border.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had crossed into Poland.
The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Support for Ukraine
The incident was the latest in a series of airspace incursions in countries on NATO’s eastern flank, including Romania and the Baltic states, which have raised concerns about the war in Ukraine extending beyond its borders.
Tusk said Poland would maintain support for Ukraine and that his government would consider further assistance, including additional Patriot systems. He noted that bilateral relations had recently been strained by disputes over history.
