Poland is on high alert after a possible Russian-Shahed drone reportedly flew into its airspace for 33 minutes on Monday, before “disappearing”.
The sighting of the suspected UAV occurred during a massive aerial bombardment of Ukraine by Russia, that left at least seven people dead and dozens more wounded.
The suspected Shahed drone was last tracked flying above the Polish town of Tyszowce in the east of the country and around 32 kilometres from the border with Ukraine.
Search teams are currently combing the area in an attempt to find any remains of the drone.
Officials say it is also possible that the UAV flew back into Ukrainian territory.
The Polish military said it was ready to shoot down the suspected drone, but was unable to make a positive identification.
Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski told RMF 24: “The identification had to take place before the decision to neutralize the object was made. However, this final identification did not take place due to the weather conditions.”
As Poland is a NATO member, a direct confrontation or attack from Russia against this European country could drag the Western military alliance into a conflict with Moscow.
Ukraine was subjected to one of the biggest air attacks on its territory by Russia since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
According to Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 127 missiles and 109 attack drones overnight on Sunday and into Monday morning.
Ukraine said it shot down 102 missiles and ninety nine drones during the fierce barrage, that targeted energy infrastructure.
The ferocious attack left large swathes of the country without electricity and forced people to take shelter.
Russia confirmed it had launched attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – one of its long-term tactics – and said all its targets were hit.
It comes as another hotel was hit by a Russian missile, killing at least one person.
Overnight on Monday the Aurora Hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine was targeted in a Russian strike.
Sergei Lysak, head of the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration, said four were injured in addition to the one fatality.
“Preliminarily, one dead and four wounded. There could be people under the rubble,” he said.
