An unidentified object, which Polish news portal Salon24 reported the Polish military believed was a Russian Shahed drone produced by Iran, has entered Polish territory without being shot down.
The incident took place on the morning of August 26 during a Russian air assault on Ukraine. The Polish military has confirmed the search for the object is continuing in the South-East of Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Military sources have reportedly not discounted the possibility that the drone may have entered and later left Polish airspace or that it may have exploded mid-air.
Despite confirmation from at least three radar stations, the object was not tracked by aircraft or helicopters despite it having travelled an estimated 25km into Polish airspace before disappearing off the Polish military’s radar.
Polish military said the object was not shot down because forces had to ensure that it was not civilian before taking action. Under Polish law visual identification is required before any such action is taken.
NATO’s spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah confirmed there was “no information about the drone having been targeted at Poland”.
It added, though, that Russia’s “activities are irresponsible and potentially dangerous…Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there have been several similar incidents found on the territory of NATO member states.”
The latest incident marked the fifth such violation since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The first occurred on November 15, 2022, when a missile launched from Ukraine landed in a village near the Ukrainian border, killing workers at a grain drying facility in the East of Poland.
The next such occurred on December 16 of the same year, during another major wave of Russian airstrikes against Ukraine. On that occasion, a Ch-55 cruise missile crashed near the city of Bydgoszcz. Its remains were found by a passer-by in local woods several months later.
The then Conservative (PiS) government was criticised for failing to report the discovery of the missile until as late as April of 2023, with communications between the military and the defence ministry coming under scrutiny.
The opposition, then led by the current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called in question what it termed the secrecy involved. It also attacked the PiS government for failing to be firmer with the Belarusians for a helicopter encroachment of Polish territory.
Other violations of Polish airspace apparently connected to the ongoing war in Ukraine have included one reported on December 29 of last year and another on March 24 of this year.
In both cases unidentified objects entered Polish airspace from Ukraine and then left Polish territory, according to the military.
