Poland says drone likely entered its airspace during Russian attack on Ukraine

PHOTO CAPTION: Polish soldiers and a local dog walk along the border fence on the Polish-Belarusian border in Usnarz Gorny, Poland, August 30, 2023. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki

By Barbara Erling and Alan Charlish

WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland said that a drone had likely entered its airspace early on Monday morning during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine, adding that the object may have landed on Polish territory and that searches were underway.

Russia launched more than 100 missiles and around 100 attack drones at Ukraine during Monday's morning rush hour, killing at least five people and striking energy facilities nationwide, officials said.

"Most likely it was a drone and we assume so, because the trajectory of the flight and the speed indicate that it was definitely not a missile," Jacek Goryszewski, spokesperson for the Polish army's operational command told Reuters.

"The object is being searched for by 100 soldiers on the ground and one helicopter."

He said it was impossible to say whether the object was Russian or Ukrainian as weather conditions had not allowed for visual identification.

In a later statement on social media platform X the army's operational command said the object had entered Polish airspace at 0443 GMT and that radars had lost sight of it at 0516 GMT.

"From the moment it entered Polish airspace, attempts were made to visually verify the object in order to identify it before possible neutralisation," the statement said.

"Unfortunately, due to the prevailing weather conditions, it was not possible to clearly identify it, which prevented the decision to shoot it down."

Earlier, NATO member Poland said it had scrambled jets in the south of the country due to the attack on Ukraine.

Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people.

In December 2023, Poland said a Russian missile had entered its airspace. In April 2023, a military object was found in a forest close to the village of Zamosc near the northern city of Bydgoszcz. It was later reported to be a Russian missile.

Also in March this year Poland said Russia had violated its airspace with a cruise missile launched at targets in western Ukraine.

Fellow NATO-member Romania has reported finding fragments of Russian drones on its territory, most recently in July.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling, Alan Charlish, Marek StrzeleckiEditing by Gareth Jones and Sharon Singleton)