According to reports from Warsaw’s military, a Russian cruise missile fired toward western Ukraine breached the airspace of NATO member Poland early on Sunday.
The missile’s trajectory led it into Polish airspace near the eastern village of Oserdów, situated along the border with Ukraine, at approximately 4:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. Saturday E.T.), as confirmed by authorities in Warsaw.
“Polish and allied aviation resources were activated in response,” stated the Polish military in a social media announcement. This activation “may result in increased noise levels, especially in the southeastern part of the country,” noted another post from Warsaw.
The Polish military further informed that Moscow had targeted western Ukrainian towns utilizing its long-range aviation fleet. Polish radar systems diligently tracked the missile’s path throughout its duration in NATO airspace, totaling 39 seconds.
In late December 2023, Polish military authorities reported an unidentified object breaching Polish airspace from the direction of the Ukraine border.
The involvement of neighboring countries in such incidents adds to concerns about the conflict in Ukraine potentially expanding beyond its current scope. NATO nations have been cautious about direct engagement in the Ukrainian war, given the alliance’s commitment that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all, thus potentially escalating the conflict significantly.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force disclosed that Russia had launched an assault with 29 Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles, deployed by long-range aviation aircraft stationed at the Engels-2 base in southern Russia, with 18 of these missiles intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
Reports from Ukrainian officials in the Lviv region and around Kyiv detailed multiple cruise missile strikes and the deployment of Russia’s Kinzhal (Dagger) air-launched missiles, which Moscow has touted as hypersonic weaponry.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, characterized the overnight attacks as “the third massive missile assault on Ukraine in the past four days.”
Furthermore, Poland’s military noted “intense long-range aviation activity” from Russia early on Sunday, suggesting it was linked to the ongoing air and missile strikes against targets within Ukraine.
Earlier incidents included Russia launching four anti-aircraft guided missiles and 34 Shahed drones over eastern Ukraine on Saturday, followed by 151 attacks utilizing 88 missiles and 63 strike drones on the previous day. Additionally, on Thursday morning, Kyiv reported the destruction of 29 Russian cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles.