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Polish military authorities confirmed no airspace violations after an explosion in a cornfield near the eastern border village of Osiny, Poland, on Wednesday, August 20. The blast left a large crater and damaged nearby windows but caused no injuries. Police and army personnel are investigating the incident.
The war in Ukraine has heightened tensions for Poland, which regularly scrambles fighter jets to respond to Russian air attacks on Ukrainian territory. However, Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command stated that its preliminary analysis of radar records showed no violations from Ukraine or Belarus, according to a statement posted on X (originally in Polish).
In the aftermath, authorities found charred metal and plastic fragments from an unidentified object scattered across the field. A local police sergeant reported finding a propeller-like object at the site. Surveillance footage captured by a resident showed a bright flash followed by a loud bang.
The incident follows previous explosions in Poland: in November 2022, a grain facility was struck by what Polish investigators believed to be an air defense missile fired from Ukraine; and in April 2023, debris found in eastern Poland was likely from a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile launched at Ukraine from Belarus.
The Polish Press Agency (PAP) cited an unnamed source in the defense ministry suggesting the object may have been a Russian decoy drone without a warhead intended to distract air defense systems. Newsweek has reached out to the Polish Ministry of Defense for further comment.
