Poland says Russian rocket likely to have entered its airspace

 A Russian missile appears likely to have entered the airspace of NATO-member Poland on Friday, a Polish general said, after an unidentified aerial object was spotted in the early morning hours amid a heavy Russian attack on Ukraine overnight.

General Maciej Klisz, operational commander of the Polish armed forces, said the object most likely spent less than three minutes in Polish airspace and went back over Ukraine.

“The entire flight path over Polish territory was being monitored,” Klisz told reporters. “At the moment, the scenario that I am recommending is that the missile left Poland’s airspace.”

Poland summoned the Russian charge d’affaires and demanded an explanation for the violation of Poland’s airspace by a missile and an immediate halt to such activities, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday evening.

Officials from the Russian embassy in Warsaw were not immediately available for comment.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 158 drones and missiles overnight, aiming for critical infrastructure, industry and military facilities, the Ukrainian military said.

In November 2022, a stray Ukrainian missile struck the Polish village of Przewodow in southern Poland, raising fears at the time of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.

In April, a military object was found in a forest close to the village of Zamosc near the northern city of Bydgoszcz. It was later reported to be a Russian missile.

Private broadcaster TV Republika had reported on Friday that a search for the object was happening near the town of Hrubieszow in southern Poland. Reuters was unable to immediately confirm this information.

“We received information that an object appeared on the radar near Hrubieszow,” Krzysztof Komorski, governor of the Lublin region, said on X. “We have no confirmation that it fell within our region.”

Polish officials said emergency services, including police and volunteer army units, were scouring the area but it was unclear whether the object had landed on Polish territory. There were no reports of casualties.

General Klisz also said the missile had flown 40 kilometres (25 miles) into Poland and that no action was taken against it.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk met army and security services chiefs around midday local time (1100 GMT) to discuss the incident.