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 convened an emergency meeting following the incident (Photo: AP).

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

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

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

Private television station TV Republika reported that the search for the object is underway near the town of Hrubieszow in southern Poland. There is no information yet on casualties or damage related to the incident.

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

The Ukrainian military said Russia attacked Kyiv with 158 drones and missiles overnight, targeting critical infrastructure, industrial, and military facilities.

Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, spokesman for the Armed Forces Operations Command, said: "This object came from the Ukrainian border. There was a fierce attack on Ukrainian territory at night, so this incident may be related to that."

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.

Subsequently, Polish President Andrzej Duda held an emergency meeting with Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Chief of Staff Wiesław Kukuła, and Commander of Operations 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 General Staff, the Minister of Defence , and representatives of the Internal Security Service, the Military Intelligence Service, and the Military Counterintelligence Service.

In November 2022, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile landed in the Polish village of Przewodow near the border between the two countries, killing two civilians. This incident occurred while Russia was conducting an offensive against Ukraine and raised concerns that the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv risked spreading to Europe.

Ukraine speaks out

The Ukrainian Air Force stated that the incident involving an unidentified object flying into Polish airspace during the Russian attack on December 29th was another signal to Kyiv's partners that they need more air defense assets to protect themselves and Europe.

Colonel Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said: "As you can see, there were large-scale Russian attacks, many things were flying in the air, and this is not the first time such incidents have occurred. The same thing happened in Poland last year."

"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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