Poland likely hit by Russian missile, Premier Tusk says

Agnieszka Barteczko and Maciej Martewicz, Bloomberg News on Jul 30, 2026

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A Russian missile was likely the object that crashed in eastern Poland early on Thursday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The announcement came Thursday after Polish armed forces said it had detected an unidentified object entering the country’s airspace during a large Russian attack on Ukraine. Poland borders Ukraine and is a NATO member.

“All signs point to this being a Russian Kh-101 missile, but we won’t jump to conclusions before the results of a detailed investigation are in,” Tusk said before an incident command team meeting in Lublin on Thursday. In a statement, NATO called the object “a Russian missile of currently unknown type.”

Tusk later traveled to the crash site, where he told reporters there was “very likely” an explosion, given the impact crater’s size. But he cautioned there is “no reason to believe that Poland was the target.”

The incident is likely to ratchet up tensions between NATO allies and Moscow, adding to a mounting list of Russian incursions on NATO territory during its war against Ukraine. Poland alone has blamed the Kremlin for an explosion on a busy rail route to Ukraine and drone flyovers last year.

“I am in contact with the leaders of European countries regarding the violation of Polish airspace,” Tusk said on the X platform. “They have all expressed their full solidarity and readiness to provide any assistance.”

Tusk added that he was in touch with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s leadership. And Germany, which has military assets stationed in Poland, said it was coordinating with Warsaw.

“We take all air incidents at NATO’s eastern border very seriously, and are in permanent coordination within the Alliance about the situation,” a German official said in a statement.

Thursday’s incident took place around 3:40 a.m. amid “intense combat activity by the Russian Federation’s long-range air force,” according to Polish officials. The object came down near the eastern village of Tarnawa-Kolonia, the armed forces Operational Command said in a statement. The village is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

The Operational Command said an F-16 fighter jet on duty had been directed to identify and intercept the object as it moved westward. The entity then disappeared from the radar and an Mi-24 helicopter crew located the probable crash site, which has been secured by search-and-rescue services.

The resources were deployed in coordination with NATO, said Colonel Martin O’Donnell, spokesperson for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

“NATO is in close contact with the Polish authorities about the violation of Poland’s airspace,” he said.

At the scene, Tusk noted that the suspected missile “is capable of carrying explosive payloads” and likely blew up upon impact, accounting for the expansive crater, stretching 10 meters across and five meters deep.

It’s the latest in a series of potential Russian provocations registered by Poland and other NATO allies. Warsaw officials blamed Russian intelligence for the rail explosion last November, two months after they said 19 Russian military drones flew deep into Polish airspace.

The drone incursions caused Poland to request formal talks with NATO allies after the drone incident, calling it an “act of aggression.”

The flyovers have since continued. Just this past week, fellow NATO member Romania shot down three drones that breached its airspace. The move marked a shift from the country’s preiovus policy of largely tracking drones crossing into Romania without engaging them.

Earlier during Russia’s war, a stray missile also killed two people in the Polish village of Przewodow, near the Ukrainian border. That was later attributed to Ukrainian forces trying to shoot down scores of Russian rockets.

—With assistance from Piotr Bujnicki, Arne Delfs, Yurii Stasiuk and Slav Okov.