Polish military authorities have said that a Russian missile briefly passed through the country’s airspace before leaving, prompting concern from the country that borders Ukraine on the day Russia carried out attacks across several Ukrainian cities killing at least 30 people.
Poland, a member of the NATO military alliance, says that the object entered from the direction of Ukraine on Friday morning, entering about 40 kilometers (24 miles) before leaving after about three minutes.
“Everything indicates that a Russian missile intruded in Poland’s airspace,” said Poland’s defence chief, General Wieslaw Kukula. “It was monitored by us on radars and left the airspace. We have confirmation of this on radars and from [NATO] allies.”
Russian officials have yet to comment on the incident, which comes at a time of high tensions between Russia and European nations located near Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022.
Polish officials say they are working to further verify their findings and rule out the possibility of a technical malfunction.
In a social media post on Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the security alliance is monitoring the situation and communicating with Polish officials.
“I spoke with President Andrzej Duda about the missile incident in Poland. NATO stands in solidarity with our valued ally, is monitoring the situation and we will remain in contact as the facts are established. NATO remains vigilant,” Stoltenberg said.
Operational commander of the Polish army Maciej Klisz said that the country’s air defence network had been on high alert due to recent Russian missile and drone attacks in Ukraine and that fighter jets were sent to intercept the missile before it left Polish territory.
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