A Russian cruise missile crashed deep inside Polish territory early Thursday, carving a 10-metre crater in a field near the village of Tarnawa Kolonia and prompting NATO to scramble fighter jets in response. The strike, part of a large-scale Russian barrage against Ukraine that killed at least eight civilians and wounded more than 50, will deepen tensions between NATO and Russia as European countries fear the three-year-old war could spill into their territory.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the object was “in all probability” a Russian cruise missile. It was armed. He told a specially convened meeting in Lublin that “all the indications” pointed to a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. After visiting the crash site, Tusk said military experts had determined that the majority of recovered fragments confirmed that assessment. The missile was part of a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight.
The missile landed 92 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. No casualties were reported. Tusk said there was no immediate threat because the missile had not landed in a built-up area, adding that Poland was prepared to shoot it down had it continued its flight.
NATO response and alliance concerns
NATO was in contact with Polish authorities. Alliance members, including Poland, launched F-16 jets in response to the sighting, along with an aerial refuelling aircraft and an airborne early warning plane, a NATO spokesperson said. General Alexus G Grynkewich, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said the alliance would “continue to take all necessary measures to defend Nato territory.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on social media that Poland and NATO had activated their air and ground defences. “This incident is yet another reckless act by Russia and a dangerous consequence of its war against Ukraine,” Rutte said. The growing series of NATO airspace violations is raising concern that Russia’s war on Ukraine could escalate and entangle neighbouring alliance states. Such incidents have become increasingly common in recent months as Russia and Ukraine have launched hundreds of projectiles at one another. Poland is just one of several alliance members to have confronted repeated stray drones and missiles.
A pattern of incursions
Poland’s military detected the object at about 03:40 on Thursday and sent an F-16 fighter jet to intercept it before it disappeared minutes later from radar systems. A military helicopter was then sent to search the area. Residents in Tarnawa Kolonia reported hearing a loud bang at about 04:00, and police found the crash site about an hour later. Air raid sirens blared in Lublin and Krasnystaw because of the Russian airstrikes in neighbouring Ukraine. The Russian attack targeted the cities of Lviv, Kyiv, and areas near Kryvyi Rih.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said about 20 objects were seen close to Polish airspace overnight and that pyrotechnical analysis was being carried out. A number of Russian drones and one unarmed Russian missile have landed in Poland since Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Two Polish farmers were killed by a missile that landed just over the border from Ukraine in November 2022, but that was believed to have been a Ukrainian air defence missile responding to a Russian attack. At least eight people died and dozens more were wounded across Ukraine, including six members of one family in a village near Kryvyi Rih.
The problem extends beyond Poland. Romania has reported repeated incursions by stray drones into its airspace, and on Monday, following the latest incursion of three drones, Bucharest summoned Russia’s ambassador to complain about the “repeated violations.” In May, Estonia and Latvia reported drones entering their airspace from Russia. The government in Riga then collapsed over an argument on how to handle the projectiles.
Drone incursions have led to discussions in the European Union about building a possible “drone wall” to shield its eastern flank. Last year Poland added deployments to its air defences in response to the threat and has regularly detected violations of its airspace by Russian missiles and drones.
Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on X that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had “crossed into Poland as part of Russia’s massive strike against Ukraine, violating Nato airspace.” He called it “yet another clear demonstration that strengthening Ukraine’s air defense now is urgent and serves as a guarantee for the protection of the entire Euro-Atlantic community.”
Tusk was in contact with European leaders. The head of the European Council, António Costa, said Russia’s “massive combined strike against Ukraine” had underlined again that “Russia’s aggression is a threat to the security as a whole.” Tusk had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lublin the previous evening as Zelensky was returning from talks with US President Donald Trump. Dozens more were wounded in Lviv, not far from Ukraine’s western border with Poland.