Warsaw has said several UAVs crossed into its air space, with some later shot down
FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images/InnaPoka
The Russian military has not designated any targets in Poland for long-range strikes, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. Earlier on Wednesday, Warsaw claimed multiple drones it identified as Russian violated its airspace.
The Ministry expressed readiness to hold “consultations” with Polish defense officials on the issue and claimed that the range of the drones used in overnight strikes on western Ukraine does not exceed 700km.
“There were no targets designated on Polish territory,” the ministry stressed.
The targets attacked during overnight strikes included multiple military industrial facilities across Western Ukraine, the ministry revealed. Namely, the Russian military scored hits on a tank and an aircraft plant located in the city of Lviv, as well as other installations in Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky, and Zhitomir regions. The sites have been involved in the manufacturing of long-range drones, and the production and repair of armored vehicles and combat aviation, according to the statement.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has claimed the country’s military detected 19 separate violations overnight, describing the incident as a “provocation” by Russia. Up to four drones were downed, according to the PM, who also claimed the aircraft came into the country’s airspace from Belarus rather than from Ukraine.
Warsaw also formally invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty over what it called an “act of aggression” by Russia. The article mandates consultations if a member of the US-led bloc has its security threatened.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also pinned the blame for the drone incident on Moscow, calling it “the most serious European airspace violation by Russia” during the Ukraine conflict. She also alleged that unspecified “indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s close ally, Belarus, said it had given the Polish military an early warning about the incoming drones, telling it that a number of UAVs used by Kiev and Moscow for attacking each other strayed “as a result of the impact of the parties’ electronic warfare assets.”
