Russian Missile Breaches NATO Airspace via Poland—Second Incident Reported by Military

 A Russian cruise missile breached NATO airspace for 39 seconds on Sunday morning after it briefly flew above Poland, the Polish military said in a statement—the second time a Russian missile has entered NATO airspace since the war began in Ukraine in 2022.

The missile entered Polish airspace at 4:23 a.m. near the town of Oserdów, a small rural village close to the nation’s eastern border with Ukraine.

The Polish military said in a statement that “Polish and allied aviation was activated.”

Jacek Goryszewski, the Polish military’s spokesperson, told reporters at a press briefing on Sunday the missile traveled about 1.2 miles above Poland before re-entering Ukraine.

The breach coincided with an intense early morning attack on Ukrainian infrastructure that saw 57 missiles and drones strike targets in Lviv, Kyiv and other towns in western Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Russian government has not released any statement on the incident.

NATO leaders have not commented on the breach as of Sunday morning, and the alliance did not return a request for comment from Forbes.

Another Russian missile briefly entered Polish airspace in December, which was tracked by both Polish and NATO radar systems. The missile traveled about 24 miles through eastern Poland, the military reported, before leaving Polish airspace after about three minutes. In a statement, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance “remains vigilant” after the breach and promised to monitor the situation. In March, Stoltenberg met with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, where both leaders announced plans to install a U.S.-built missile defense system in the country. As part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, Poland hosts an estimated 10,000 U.S. servicemembers.


Sunday’s incident comes after days of escalating air strikes from Russian forces at targets throughout Ukraine. Although the Ukrainian military was able to shoot down 92 targets, the remaining missiles and drones struck energy infrastructure targets causing widespread blackouts throughout the country. Eight missiles struck DniproHES, Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric dam, while others severed a power line that connects the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the energy grid. Engineers repaired the power line later on Friday morning, Reuters reported. Speaking in a video message posted on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attacks “heinous” and confirmed the government was working to restore electricity, water and heating to several regions, including Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.