A Russian cruise missile left a crater 33 feet wide in Nato territory when it landed in Poland overnight, Ukraine’s foreign minister has said.
The landing site was discovered by Polish authorities alongside scattered debris after reports of an explosion near the south-east village of Tarnawa-Kolonia.
Fighter jets were scrambled, but Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said there was no immediate danger as the missile fell in an uninhabited area.
Local authorities said the farmland where the crater was found is around 1.2 miles from the nearest residential buildings.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X: ‘Overnight, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed into Poland as part of Russia’s massive strike against Ukraine, violating NATO airspace.’
Tusk said the object ‘looks like’ a Russian missile but authorities did not have ‘100% certainty’ what kind of missile it was.
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In a post on X, he said: ‘The military, Police, State Fire Service, and special services are working in full coordination.
‘We are in constant contact with the President of the Republic of Poland and NATO command.’
His defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said an investigation is currently underway to determine the type of object that landed near the village.
Sirens were heard in Lublin, Poland’s eighth-largest city, for several minutes to warn of potential Russian strikes.
The operational command of Poland’s armed forces said in a post on X that the object was detected moving westward before disappearing from radars soon after the sighting at 3.40am local time.
It continued: ‘A helicopter crew located the probable crash site of the object in an undeveloped area near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in the Lublin province.’
The latest development came after eight people, including a six-year-old girl and boys aged 11 and 17, were killed in a Russian attack on Ukraine last night, according to local officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met the UK’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Monday, said more than 70 missiles were used in the attack as well as more than 280 attack drones.
In a post on X, he criticised Ukraine’s ‘partners’ for ‘untimely assistance and delays in the delivery of anti-ballistic missiles’ which led to a ‘critical shortage’.
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