Poland's Interior Ministry reported Wednesday that a house and a car were damaged during Russia's violation of Polish airspace overnight, adding that seven drones and debris from an unknown projectile have been located so far.
"We have found seven drones and shell remains... of unknown origin," Interior Ministry spokeswoman Karolina Galecka told reporters, adding that a house and a car were also damaged.
Polish authorities have found the remains of a missile of unknown origin and seven drones following Russia's violation of the country's airspace, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Kinga Gałecka said.
Galecka said the missile whose remains were found could be a Polish missile used to shoot down the drones.
The first wreckage was found at 05:30 GMT in Mniszków (east), and since then, further discoveries of wreckage have occurred in various parts of the country, including a drone in the Lodz province (center), more than 300 kilometers from the Belarusian border.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed in Parliament on Wednesday that up to 19 incursions into Polish airspace were recorded overnight, and stressed that, for the first time since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine in February 2022, the drones arrived from Belarus.
Tusk explained that drones were detected “throughout the night, from approximately 11:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday until 6:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. GMT) today.”
Poland sent two F-35 fighter jets, two F-16s, and MI-24, MI-17, and Black Hawk helicopters to intercept the drones, in addition to military aircraft from the Netherlands and Italy, which collaborated in the operation in coordination with NATO Air Command.
No casualties or injuries were reported, but a house was damaged and damage was also reported to a parked car, according to an Interior Ministry spokeswoman.
Polish authorities continue to search for more debris from downed drones, calling on the public to report any strange objects they find.
Faced with these "unprecedented violations" of its airspace, Poland has formally requested an urgent consultation with allies, invoking NATO's Article 4, a joint decision by Tusk and Polish President Karol Nawrocki to prepare a joint allied response.
Although Tusk called the situation “closer to open conflict than at any time since World War II,” he emphasized that there is no reason to claim the country is at war.
The Armed Forces Operational Command has announced that the security situation has stabilized and the four airports that were temporarily closed to traffic are now operating normally.
