In the mediate of the night, Tuesday for Wednesday, there was a immense bang over a peaceful cornfield in Osina, Lublin. About 2 o'clock, they received a study of an explosion. The residents ran out of their homes, frightened by sound resembling an detonation on the farm.
The shock was strong adequate that any buildings fell glass from windows. A crater was found in the field – about six metres in diameter and half a metre in depth. The scattered debris of metallic and plastic, the clear traces of the explosion, pointed to something that fell from the sky with tremendous force.
Police, fire department and Homeland safety have secured the area. The case was handled by the prosecutor in Lublin. Prosecutor Grzegorz Trusiewicz said that with a very advanced probability the object contained explosives. It is not yet known what kind or quantity they were. It is besides unclear whether there has been a detonation in the air or even after it hit the ground. Experts are besides investigating the trajectory of the flight.
Monitoring caught only a fast moving point of light. no of the Operations Command radars registered an object violating Polish airspace from the east side. Airspace defence experts explain that specified systems may have difficulty detecting low and slow flying targets of military drones. Their plan and parameters do not always let effective capture of specified tiny and irregularly moving objects.
There are different hypotheses. 1 of them speaks of the alleged "wabik" – drones without a warhead, utilized to confuse air defence systems. another experts say that it was most likely a Shahed-type drone – Iranian production, widely utilized by Russian armed forces and besides known as Geran–2. specified drones, despite their simplicity, have tremendous scope and can carry explosives. They are besides known for being utilized in attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. Their plan makes them comparatively inexpensive and hard to detect.
Doubts were yet dispelled by Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. He just confirmed that the object that exploded in the Osins was a Russian drone. His words left no area for speculation:
“We are dealing with a provocation of the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone.”
He added that the situation fits into the broader pattern of Moscow's activities, which tests NATO's responses and conducts hybrid activities.
"Russia one more time provokes NATO. After the drone incidents in Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, we are one more time dealing with a Russian drone. This is simply a peculiar minute erstwhile peace talks are taking place," he stressed.
Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that the actions are coordinated at government level. There are briefings at the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and abroad Minister Radosław Sikorski will take diplomatic action on this matter. "We are in communication within the government. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski will take appropriate diplomatic steps," the head of the MON stressed.
President Andrzej Duda is kept informed. The National safety Office cooperates with the Armed Forces Operations Command and communicates all applicable information. According to commentators, specified a reaction – fast, unambiguous, with communication at the highest level – is essential in the face of specified threats. On the 1 hand, it is about showing that the state is acting, on the another hand, to keep social peace and to prevent misinformation.
Former military officials besides comment on the case. General Roman Polko pointed out that the incidental was another effort to test Polish defence capabilities. He pointed out that the built balloon radar strategy did not work out and that its effectiveness should be reconsidered. It believes that this kind of action could be sabotage and be part of a larger exploratory strategy for Russia. In his opinion, if it was indeed a Russian drone that was not detected by any systems, that would mean a major safety gap.
There are besides voices informing of excessive panic. Experts remind us that no casualties occurred, and the area was uninhabited. At the same time, they stress that this is not the first specified incident, which has previously occurred in Romania and the Baltic States. The questions to be asked now are, first of all, whether our early informing strategy is working, whether it could be detected earlier, and how to prevent akin events in the future.
There's now an analysis of drone fragments secured at the scene of the explosion. The investigation aims to find precisely where the drone was launched, what its mark was, and who is specifically liable for sending it. The possible trajectory of the flight is besides determined – whether the drone entered Poland from the territory of Ukraine or was broadcast from another direction.
Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz assured that Poland remains in close contact with NATO allies and that all specified incidents will be decently analysed and documented. He besides commissioned a comprehensive study on the matter. He reminded that it was not the first time that Russia tried to test the defence readiness of the alliance states – this time the choice was on Poland.
There is no uncertainty that this incidental will have long-term consequences. Both in the context of safety policy and social sentiments. Although there were no casualties this time, the situation showed that the Polish airspace is not immune to asymmetric activities. The incidental in Osinach became not only another inflame in Russia's hybrid war, but besides an crucial informing signal for NATO as a whole.
