"There was a very powerful explosion": Polish PM says drone crashed near border
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that a Russian strike drone crashed near the Polish border in Ukraine's Volyn Oblast on the afternoon of 17 September.
Source: Tusk during a government meeting on 17 September, as reported by Polish news portal RMF 24 and European Pravda
Details: Tusk reported that the drone crashed near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing. He said Russia had probably been targeting a petrol station.
Quote: "I have received another report: the Russian attack on Ukraine's west has ended. Very close to the Polish border, near Dorohusk, once again, a petrol station was apparently being targeted. There was a very powerful explosion. Our aircraft were scrambled. This 17 September is an exceptional day, including in terms of today's security."
Details: Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, spokesperson for Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, said the drone had most likely crashed or been shot down 4 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border.
As it was a jet-powered drone that was rapidly approaching the Polish border, fighter jets were scrambled.
"We are still verifying the data from our systems, but we have initial indications that [the drone] most likely hit its target or was shot down 4 km away from the border, on the Ukrainian side," Goryszewski said.
Ukrainska Pravda sources in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies reported that explosions had been heard in Volyn Oblast, a few kilometres from the border with Poland.
Background:
- On 15 September, a drone, likely a Russian Gerbera UAV, was discovered off the coast of Poland in the Baltic Sea.
- On the morning of 16 September, an air-raid warning was issued in Polish border areas due to jet-powered UAVs over Ukraine's west, and Rzeszów and Lublin airports suspended operations.
- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to improve the flow of traffic at the border with Ukraine to prevent a build-up of vehicles, which could become a target for Russian attacks.
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