On 17 September before noon, sirens were called in Rzeszow and workers of respective offices were evacuated for information about the Russian drone flying towards Poland. The object fell about 4 kilometres from the border and did not cross it. The alarm was cancelled at 12.51, but the incidental revealed serious gaps in the preparation of the population.
Drone didn't cross the line.
The government safety Centre sent a informing about the threat from the air to residents of Podkarpackie and Lublin Voivodeships. A fewer minutes later, an order appeared to find a safe hiding place. The military picked up fighters.
The spokesperson for the Operations Command of Armed Forces Types, Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, said that the drone was heading for Poland, but did not cross the border. The facility fell on the Ukrainian side, a fewer kilometres from the Dorohusk-Ja hours crossing that was not damaged. Another material about the drone, which fell 4 kilometres from Poland describes the broader context of military action.
The offices are down to the lower floors.
In Rzeszów employees of the Podkarpackie Provincial Office, the Marshal Office and the Town Hall were evacuated. People in the provincial office went down to negative 1 and waited there for the alarm to be called off. The procedure went smoothly.
Schools reacted differently. In part of the facilities, the students remained in the rooms, in others they were brought to the cellars or to lower floors. Sirens were besides launched in Mielec and Sanoku. In 1 of the schools in Przemyśl, children were taken to escape rooms. Earlier RCB alerts for east Poland have shown that akin procedures become part of the everyday life of the region.
Medicine and airports have returned to work
The Bieszczady Border defender Branch reported that the Podkarpackie border crossings were not evacuated. The Ukrainian border guard, however, stopped briefings in Medica for half an hour. Airports in Rzeszów and Lublin did not operate temporarily, and after cancelling the threat resumed work.
According to the accounts of institutions collected by the PAP Local Government Service any schools directed their children to basements and locker rooms, while hospitals continued to work. The manager of the Provincial infirmary in Zamość indicated that the facility does not have shelter-type spaces where patients can be safely transferred.
The State must draw conclusions
The alarm did not end with a hit in Poland. That's good news. However, 1 must not go over the fact that offices and schools improvise, and the basement or locker area is presented as the only available protection place.
The safety of Poles requires efficient air defence, but besides clear instructions, prepared buildings and regular exercises. The Russian war is simply a fewer miles from our border. A country that only responds to the siren's sound responds besides late.
Source: Polish Radio Rzeszów, PAP Local Government Service
Source: Polish Radio Rzeszów
