Key facts
- A Russian jet-powered drone crashed or struck a target about 4 kilometers from the Polish border on Sept. 17.
- Polish authorities scrambled fighter jets and sounded sirens in eastern Poland.
- Airports in Lublin and Rzeszow temporarily suspended flight operations.
- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that a powerful explosion occurred near the border.
- No violation of Polish airspace was recorded.
- Explosions were heard on the Ukrainian side of the border.
Sirens sounded in eastern Poland and military aircraft were scrambled on September 17 after Russian strikes on western Ukraine came close to the NATO member's border, prompting temporary flight suspensions at two airports. Polish authorities stated that no violation of Polish airspace was recorded.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a government meeting that a Russian attack on western Ukraine had ended, and "very close to the Polish border, not far from Dorohusk, a gas station was probably attacked again. There was a very powerful explosion. Our planes took off." He noted the date, September 17, marking the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, was "exceptional... from the point of view of today's security."
Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski told private broadcaster TVN24 that a drone had crashed or been shot down around 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Polish border. A Ukrainian official informed Reuters that explosions sounded several kilometers from the border on the Ukrainian side. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine denied reports that a Russian drone struck a border crossing with Poland.
Airports in Lublin and Rzeszow temporarily suspended flight operations, and residents in two eastern regions of Poland received government alerts warning of a potential air attack. Footage from state news channel TVP Info showed children being evacuated from a school in Lublin. On September 13, a Russian drone struck a truck about 800 meters from the Polish border near the Yahodyn border crossing, and on the same day, Russian forces struck the locomotive of a passenger train traveling to Warsaw.