Explosion in a field in eastern Poland: the Ministry of Defense does not rule out a Russian drone, but did not record any airspace violations

An explosion occurred overnight in Osiny, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Poland's Minister of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, stated that "most likely, it's about a crashed drone," and all services are investigating each of the three scenarios – whether it's a Russian drone, a smuggled drone, or an act of sabotage, writes UNN with reference to RMF24.

Most likely, it's about a crashed drone. It currently shows no signs indicating a military nature.

Details

On Tuesday evening, residents of the village of Osiny, Łuków County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, reported hearing an "explosion" accompanied by a "flash." Police officers dispatched to the scene found "scattered, charred metal and plastic elements" in a cornfield. Describing the scene, Senior Sergeant Marcin Jóźwik from the Łuków District Police Headquarters, in an interview with RMF FM, emphasized that there was "no typical bomb crater." There is a place where corn cobs are broken, torn off, and partially charred, he added.

No one was injured in the incident; the explosion shattered windows in at least one neighboring house. In a statement released before 9:00 AM local time, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces stated that "no violations of Polish airspace were recorded last night, neither from Ukraine nor from Belarus." The detected object, according to preliminary estimates, was part of an old engine with a propeller.

Poland's Minister of National Defense considered three hypotheses

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz spoke about the incident at a morning press conference in Mińsk Mazowiecki. The Minister of National Defense stated that "most likely, it's about a crashed drone." He added that a pyrotechnic analysis is currently underway to determine whether it was a military drone or one used for smuggling.

As indicated, it currently shows no signs indicating a military nature, so it cannot be ruled out that it could be a smuggled drone. Also, what has happened in other countries should not be ruled out – an act of sabotage, meaning actions related to diversion or sabotage on Polish territory, he added, discussing the three hypotheses of the night explosion in the Lublin Voivodeship.

The Minister of National Defense emphasized that the police, military police, territorial defense forces, and operational forces are making intensive efforts to search and secure the entire area; helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles are also involved. He added that the investigation is a "matter of a few hours." "Currently, all services are investigating each of these three scenarios – whether it's a Russian drone, a smuggled drone, or an act of sabotage that could have been committed on Polish territory," he stressed.

"Regarding the operational commander's report on airspace, (...) radar systems, according to preliminary analysis, did not record any violations of airspace," said Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, adding that this would be further verified.