Shahed or decoy? Confusion after drone crash in Poland
Illustrative photo: A Shahed drone may have crashed in Poland at night: Warsaw claims it was a decoy drone (Getty Images)
On the night of August 20, an unidentified aerial vehicle crashed in Poland and caused an explosion. Defense Express believes it was a Russian Shahed drone, while Poland’s Ministry of Defense claims it was a decoy drone, according to Defense Express and The Guardian.
According to Defense Express, all indications suggest that a Russian Shahed-type drone violated Polish airspace on the night of August 20 and crashed about 100 km from the border, approximately 70 km from Warsaw, near the village of Osiny in Lublin Voivodeship.
At the same time, the official statement only refers to an "unidentified object" that exploded around midnight. The Polish army stated that no airspace violations from Ukraine or Belarus had been recorded.
The crash site was in a field, away from residential areas, but the explosion was powerful enough to damage windows in the nearest outbuilding, the Polish police confirmed.
At the site, a crater was found along with metal and plastic debris and remnants of a propeller. The military was involved in inspecting the area.
"Everything indicates that in Warsaw, regarding the causes of the explosion, the official response once again begins with denial. The command immediately announced that no violations of Polish airspace by Ukraine or Belarus were recorded on radar data from last night," the statement reads.
Defense Express drew parallels with events in May 2023, when a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile with a dummy nuclear warhead fell near the city of Bydgoszcz. At that time, Polish officials also initially denied any airspace violation, but later had to admit it, which led to a scandal.
"A similar method — initial denial — is also practiced by Romania, where Russian Shahed drones regularly explode," the outlet notes.
According to the latest reports from Poland, sources in the Ministry of Defense believe the likely fallen object was a military decoy drone without a warhead.
What is known about the incident
Last night, an explosion occurred in Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship, about 100 km from the Ukrainian border and 40 km from Warsaw. An unidentified object fell and exploded in the middle of a field.
No casualties were reported. However, the blast shattered windows in several nearby houses.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz outlined three possible explanations for the explosion in the village of Osiny on the night of August 20, adding that sabotage cannot be ruled out.
Similar cases in Poland
This is not the first time unidentified objects have been detected in Poland. In October 2024, an unknown balloon was spotted near the border with Belarus.
In March last year, another unidentified object fell into a field near the town of Miłakowo. Over the following days, several more unknown objects were found across the country.
