Poland has accused Russia of violating its airspace after a missile exploded in a field near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia, close to Lublin, during a massive Russian bombardment of Ukraine that killed at least 13 people. The blast, which occurred at about 4am, created a crater roughly 10 metres wide and shook windows in nearby homes, according to Polish authorities.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, visiting the scene about 50 miles from the Ukrainian border, said recovered fragments pointed to a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. “From the analysis of most of the traces, the recovered fragments point to a Russian KH-101 missile,” he told journalists, while adding there was no reason to think Poland had been deliberately targeted. Polish fighter jets were scrambled during the attack, and Nato’s supreme allied commander for Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, said the alliance would “continue to take all necessary measures to defend Nato territory”.
The incident drew strong condemnation from EU leaders. António Costa, president of the European Council, said the violation of Polish airspace “underlines once again that Russia’s aggression is a threat to the security of Europe as a whole”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it another “unacceptable violation” of EU airspace. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, confirmed on X that a Russian Kh-101 missile had crossed into Poland.
Thursday’s attacks on Ukraine extended as far as Lviv, near the Polish border, where missiles damaged two blocks of flats and injured 26 people. In Kyiv, one death was confirmed, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko reporting fires in several districts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said preliminary data indicated Russia had used a North Korean missile in an attack near Kryvyi Rih, where six people, including two girls aged five and 12, were killed. Six more people, including two children, died in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had targeted military industrial facilities using land, sea and air-launched missiles as well as strike drones. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Ukrainian forces had struck four Russian tankers in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, bringing the total number of tankers hit over the past three weeks to 205. In his nightly address, Zelenskyy again urged allies to supply air defence missiles, warning that the protection of lives depended on their willingness to provide them.
