Poland mobilizes army, holds emergency meeting over strange object from Ukraine

Ba Lan huy động quân đội, họp khẩn cấp vì vật thể lạ từ Ukraine - 1 — Polish President Andrzej Duda called an emergency meeting after the incident (Photo: AP).

Polish officials said an unidentified flying object entered the NATO member's airspace from the direction of Ukraine on December 29. The incident occurred as Russia launched one of its largest-ever attacks on Ukraine using a barrage of missiles and drones.

"In the morning, an unidentified flying object entered the airspace and from the moment it crossed the border until the signal disappeared, it was observed by the radar of the Polish air defense system," the Polish Operations Command announced.

"In accordance with current procedures, the operational commander of the armed forces mobilized available forces and resources," the statement said.

Private TV station TV Republika reported that the search for the object was ongoing near the town of Hrubieszow in southern Poland. There were no reports of casualties or damage related to the incident.

"We have received information that an object appeared on radar near Hrubieszow. We cannot yet confirm whether it fell in our area," said Krzysztof Komorski, governor of the Lublin region.

The Ukrainian military said Russia attacked Kiev with 158 drones and missiles overnight, targeting Kiev's key military, industrial and infrastructure facilities.

"The object came from the Ukrainian border. There was a heavy attack on Ukrainian territory at night, so this incident could be related to that," said Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, a spokesman for the armed forces' operational command.

He said the flying object entered Polish airspace near the border city of Zamosc. Poland has mobilized its available forces to respond to the situation.

Polish President Andrzej Duda then held an emergency meeting with Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Chief of the General Staff Wiesław Kukuła, and Operations Commander Maciej Klisz.

The Polish Government Information Center announced that an emergency meeting on the incident was held between Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of Defense and representatives of the Internal Security Agency, the Military Intelligence Agency and the Military Counterintelligence Service.

In November 2022, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile crashed into the Polish village of Przewodow near the border between the two countries, killing two civilians. The incident also occurred during Russia's offensive in Ukraine and raised concerns that the war between Moscow and Kiev could spread to Europe.

Ukraine speaks out

The Ukrainian Air Force said the incident with a foreign object flying into Polish airspace during the Russian attack on December 29 was another signal to Kiev's partners that they need more air defense assets to protect themselves and Europe.

“As you can see, there are large-scale Russian attacks, a lot of things are flying in the air, and this is not the first time such incidents have happened. The same thing happened in Poland last year,” said Colonel Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force.

“This is a sign that our partners need to support Ukraine with the necessary weapons to turn us into a shield between Russia and Europe, to protect both us and the continent.”

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