Poland says giant crater left by explosion after Russia attacks on Ukraine

Polish authorities said Thursday that a 10 metre (33 feet) wide crater had been left by an explosion in an eastern region that occurred as Russia staged new missile attacks on neighbouring Ukraine.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz were to head to the scene of the explosion in a field near the city of Lublin, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Ukrainian border, a government spokesman said.

Residents of Tarnawa Kolonia, near Lublin, reported hearing an explosion at about 4:00 am (0200 GMT) that shook the windows of their homes, said a police statement.

Polish authorities did not immediately give the cause of the crater but it took place as Russia stage a massive new attack on the Lviv region in western Ukraine, near the border with Poland.

Polish military prosecutors were investigating, authorities said. But Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on X that “Overnight, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed into Poland as part of Russia’s massive strike against Ukraine, violating NATO airspace.”

EU council president Antonio Costa also said that Polish airspace had been “violated” during the missile and drone strike.

Police said they went to the field about two kilometres from the residents’ homes and found a 10-metre wide “crater” and “debris from a non-identified object”.

The armed forces command said that an Mi-24 helicopter flew over the scene and reported “the probable impact place of the object on unbuilt land”.