Poland will demand an explanation from Moscow for “a new airspace violation” and will summon its ambassador after a Russian cruise missile flew over Polish territory on Saturday (23).
The missile was aimed at Lviv in Ukraine, deviated from its trajectory and flew over Polish territory for less than a minute. For 39 seconds, Polish army officers kept their eyes on their radars.
The Russian missile entered Poland at a speed of almost 800 km/h, at an altitude of 400 meters and a depth of around 2 km. It was not shot down.
On Sunday morning (24), the operational commander of the Polish Armed Forces, Maciej Klisz, explained that destroying this type of missile, which carries explosives, could hit a hospital or a house and cause fatalities. The country’s army only monitored the missile, believing that at some point it would return to Ukrainian airspace.
Government reaction
The Polish government reacted and demanded explanations from Russia. “We call on the Russian Federation to put an end to terrorist air strikes against the people and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and focus on the country’s internal problems,” wrote Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski in a statement.
Following a “massive attack” by Russia on the territory of Ukraine, and in particular on its western part, “all air defense systems were activated in Poland,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told the press, adding that the army was monitoring the trajectories of a dozen Russian missiles.
“If there had been any indication that the object was heading for a target on Polish territory, it would obviously have been shot down,” the minister added. In December, there was another similar incident. A Russian missile entered Polish airspace and left a few minutes later, heading for Ukraine.
Russian missile puts Poland on alert
Poland accused Russia on Sunday (24/03) of briefly invading Polish airspace with one of its missiles during a large-scale attack on Ukraine, prompting Warsaw to activate its fighter jets on alert. The NATO member country also demanded an explanation from Moscow.
his was the third major missile attack by Russia against the Ukrainians in the last four days alone, and the second to also target the capital, Kiev. The head of Kiev’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said that Moscow used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
An air alert in the Ukrainian capital was active for more than two hours, while rockets entered Kiev in groups from the north. According to Popko, the attacks were launched from the Engels district in the Saratov region of western Russia. There were apparently no casualties or damage to the capital, the military chief added.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said in a statement that there had been a violation of Polish airspace at 4.23am (local time) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia.
The object flew over near Oserdow, a village in an agricultural region near the border with Ukraine, and remained in Polish airspace for 39 seconds, according to the statement. It was not clear whether it was Russia’s intention to invade Polish airspace. Cruise missiles can change their trajectory to evade air defense systems.
In an interview with a local newspaper, Henryk Zdyb, head of the village of Oserdow, said that he saw the missile and that it emitted a whistling sound. “I saw an object moving quickly in the sky. It was illuminated and flying very low over the border with Ukraine,” he said.
Fighter jets activated in response
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz later told a press conference that the Russian missile would have been shot down if there had been any indication that it was heading for a target in Poland.
Kosiniak-Kamysz also said that the Polish authorities were monitoring the attack on Ukraine and were in contact with their Ukrainian colleagues. As part of a strategic response to the airspace invasion, Polish and NATO F-16 fighters were activated.
The minister added that the missile invaded the territory for a length of about one or two kilometers, while heading for the region around Lviv, in western Ukraine.
“As last night’s [Saturday] rocket attack on Ukraine was one of the most intense since the beginning of Russian aggression, all strategic procedures were launched in time, and the object was monitored until it left Polish airspace,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz.
The mayor of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, confirmed on Telegram that around 20 missiles and seven drones were launched over the region. His city, the largest in western Ukraine, was not hit, he said.
Ambassador summoned
On the diplomatic front, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said it will “demand explanations from the Russian Federation regarding yet another violation of the country’s airspace”.
“Above all, we call on the Russian Federation to stop terrorist air strikes against the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine, end the war and resolve the country’s internal problems,” the statement added.
Andrzej Szejna, deputy foreign minister, told TVN24 that his office intends to summon the Russian ambassador to Poland and hand him a note of protest.
“War is near”
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, there have been a series of raids on Polish airspace, causing concern in the European Union (EU) and NATO member country and reminding citizens of how close war is.
“We have to accept the fact that war is happening right next to us, and we are part of the confrontation between the West and Russia,” wrote commentator Artur Bartkiewicz in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Sunday.
In 2022, two Poles were killed in the explosion of a missile that entered Polish territory near the border with Ukraine. Western authorities said it was a Ukrainian air defense missile that missed its target, but also blamed Russia for starting the war, forcing the Ukrainians to launch missiles in self-defense.
On Saturday night, one person was killed and four others injured in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol, on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, the city’s governor, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said on his Telegram channel.
ek (DPA, AP, AFP) RFI *** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***