Drone launch over government buildings in Warsaw: actions of Ukrainian and Belarusian woman not seen as fulfilling foreign intelligence orders - report
Kyiv • UNN
Poland's Internal Security Agency has determined that the detained 17-year-old Belarusian woman and 21-year-old Ukrainian man, who launched a drone over government buildings in Warsaw, were not acting on behalf of foreign intelligence services. The Ukrainian faces up to five years in prison for violating Polish aviation law, while the Belarusian woman is only a witness in the case, media reports.
Foreigners detained for flying a drone over the residence of the Polish president and government buildings in Warsaw did not act on behalf of foreign services, as unofficially learned by an RMF FM correspondent. These are the data of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) in the case of a 17-year-old Belarusian and a 21-year-old Ukrainian, RMF24 reports, writes UNN.
Details
The Belarusian and the Ukrainian are reportedly due to appear before the prosecutor's office today.
According to information obtained by an RMF FM correspondent, the young man who piloted the drone in Warsaw's Łazienki Park will be charged with violating Polish aviation law. He was flying in a restricted access zone. He faces up to five years in prison. As the correspondent learned, the Ukrainian may ask to voluntarily submit to punishment.
And the teenager, apparently, is only a witness in this case and will be questioned as such, the publication writes.
Since yesterday, the Polish Internal Security Agency has been investigating whether espionage took place. In particular, it checked the contents of the young foreigners' phones for traces of an order. However, no evidence indicating their work for foreign intelligence was found, the publication notes.
Addition
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the drone incident on Monday evening. He reported on the X platform that the Polish State Protection Service neutralized a drone flying over government buildings (Parkowa Street) and the Belvedere Palace. According to the information provided at the time, two Belarusian citizens were detained.
For security reasons, drone flights over government buildings and other critical infrastructure facilities in Poland are prohibited. Such facilities are marked with special signs informing about the prohibition of drone flights. Every drone operator who has a license can also use a special application to find out where drone flights are allowed and where they are not.
Every flight must be reported via the DroneTower application. The website of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency presents a DroneMap card with marked zones, including zones prohibited for flights.