Poland’s armed forces chief, General Wieslaw Kukula, reported that a Russian missile allegedly entered Polish airspace for nearly three minutes before turning back into Ukrainian territory. The missile is believed to have traveled around 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Polish airspace early on Friday. This incident coincided with what Ukraine described as the largest day of Russian airstrikes since the war began.

Poland’s representative to the United Nations, Krzysztof Szczerski, linked the event to the recent intense bombardment, stating, “We clearly see it as an element of the situation created by the latest wave of Russian attacks,” during a meeting of the UN Security Council. In response to the radar detection of the missile, Polish President Andrzej Duda convened an emergency security meeting. Approximately 200 police officers are currently searching the area where the missile was detected, to determine if it might have landed on Polish territory.

As a NATO member, Poland and its allied forces scrambled aircraft in response to the incident around 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Friday. So far, there have been no reports of any explosion. Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, a spokesman for Operational Command, mentioned that an unidentified object had entered Poland from Ukraine near the town of Zamosc in the Lublin region, close to the border.

The airstrikes also caused significant damage and loss of life, with at least 30 people killed in attacks on cities such as Lviv (near Poland), Dnipro, Kyiv, and other areas. The Polish military had been tracking Russian missile activity overnight. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured Poland of the alliance’s support, stating that NATO “remains vigilant.”

Reports indicate a search may be underway near Hrubieszow. The Polish government has not ruled out the possibility of Russian provocation. Deputy Defence Minister Stanislaw Wziatek told TVN24, “We need to check whether this wasn’t a provocation or a test of our reaction. We should check both scenarios carefully.”

However, Polish military expert Commander Maksymilian Dura advised caution, suggesting it is too early to definitively identify the object as a Russian missile, particularly since it has not been found, and losing contact does not necessarily mean it exited Polish airspace. Lublin region President Krzysztof Komorski urged residents to remain calm, stating, “Please be calm and patient, the services are working.”