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Published: March 24, 2024
Poland requested an explanation from Russia on Sunday after one of its missiles briefly entered Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member state to scramble F-16 fighter jets.
This is the third major missile attack launched by Russia on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second targeting the capital Kyiv.
The head of the military administration in Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, said that Russia used cruise missiles launched from strategic bombers of the Tu-95MS type. The air raid siren in the capital lasted for more than two hours with missiles entering Kyiv in groups from the north.
He added that the attacks were launched from the Engels region in Saratov, Russia, and according to preliminary data, there were no casualties or damages in the capital.
The command of the Polish Armed Forces operations, a NATO member, said in a statement that a violation of Polish airspace occurred at 4:23 a.m. (0323 GMT) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia on towns in western Ukraine.
The statement said the body entered near the village of Osierdo in an agricultural area near the border with Ukraine, and remained in Polish airspace for 39 seconds. It was not immediately clear whether Russia intended for the missile to enter Polish airspace. Cruise missiles are capable of changing course to evade air defense systems.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kowalski Kamysz later told reporters at a televised press conference that the Russian missile could have been shot down if there was any indication that it was headed toward a target in Poland.
He said Polish authorities were monitoring the attack on Ukraine and were in contact with their Ukrainian counterparts. Polish F-16s and NATO planes were activated as part of the strategic response.
He added that the missile penetrated Polish airspace by about one or two kilometers (half a mile to about a mile) while Russia targeted the area around Lviv in western Ukraine.
He added: "Since last night’s missile attack on Ukraine was one of the fiercest attacks since the beginning of the Russian aggression, all strategic measures were launched on time and the body was monitored until it left Polish airspace."
On the diplomatic front, the Polish Foreign Ministry said it "will demand clarifications from the Russian Federation regarding the latest violation of the country's airspace."
The statement said: "Above all, we call on the Russian Federation to stop the terrorist air attacks on the population and territories of Ukraine, end the war, and address the country's internal problems."
Andriy Siuhna, Deputy Foreign Minister, told TVN24 channel that the Foreign Ministry intends to summon the Russian ambassador to Poland and deliver a protest note.
Henrik Zdebi, head of the village of Osierdo, said in an interview with the daily Gazeta Wyborcza that he saw the missile, saying it made a whistling sound, "I saw a body moving quickly in the sky. It was lit up and flew very low over the border with Ukraine."
Since Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, there have been a number of breaches of Polish airspace, raising concerns in the European Union and NATO member states, reminding people of how close the war is.
Commentator Artur Bartkiewicz wrote in Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Sunday: "We must accept the fact that the war is happening right next to us, and that we are part of the confrontation between the West and Russia."
In 2022, two Poles were killed in a missile explosion. Western officials blamed those deaths on a Ukrainian air defense missile that went off course, but they also blamed Russia for starting the war, as Ukrainian missiles were fired in self-defense.
The governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said via his Telegram channel that one person was killed and four others injured on Saturday evening in a Ukrainian missile attack on the city of Sevastopol in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
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