Poland Probes Drone Blast, Officials Say Protocols Followed

The drone, identified by some media as a Russian variant of the Iranian Shahed model, blew up off the ground in a field, damaging buildings slightly but causing no casualties. The device did not carry a payload and appeared to have been a decoy, the defence ministry said.

Pressure from journalists led to the confession on the part of government spokesman Adam Szłapka, under the pressure of journalistic questions, emergency personnel reacted immediately and kept Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed from the outset. "Nobody wanted to hold anything back," Szłapka stressed.

Investigation Underway
State prosecutors in Lublin said they would pursue inquiries in the ruins where they found what wreckage they could clearly show Korean writing on engine components. The harm was significant, though the motive and the type of drone remained "undeniable mysteries," the prosecutor, Grzegorz Trusiewicz, said.

The Military Institute of Armament Technology in the area near Warsaw are involved in the probe, while the investigators have collected a lot of evidence and questioned around 10 local witnesses. Officials have called on residents with other information or recordings to speak up.

Calls for Stronger Defence
Poland's foreign ministry said it would issue an official protest to Moscow for violating its airspace. Officials, meanwhile, reiterated the need to bolster Poland's anti-drone defences.

It was condemned by the Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski as "another act of violation of our airspace from the east...which we consider as a serious violation of the norms in this respect." The minister added, echoing his Prime Minister, "This is something that Poland can in no way tolerate."