Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that during Russia's large-scale attack on Ukrainian territory overnight on July 30, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed Poland's border, violating NATO airspace, according to RBK-Ukraine.
Polish military forces detected an unidentified object in the country's airspace. According to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, the object was spotted at 3:40 a.m., an F-16 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept it, but it disappeared from radar screens six minutes later. A Mi-24 helicopter was dispatched to investigate, and its crew found a likely crash site near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin Voivodeship. After 5:00 a.m., police discovered a crater about 10 meters in diameter and scattered fragments of an unidentified object between the villages of Tarnawa-Kolonia and Tokary. The crater is in a field roughly 1.5–2 km from the nearest residential buildings; no casualties were reported, a police spokesperson said. Local residents said the explosion was so powerful that windows shook in their homes.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the airspace violation. He said that "so far everything indicates" that it was a Russian missile, but authorities will await the results of an investigation. Tusk also said he had convened a coordination group with the defense minister and representatives of relevant agencies. Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said it was most likely a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, calling it the "most probable hypothesis." Warsaw has not officially confirmed what object violated its airspace.
Sybiha called the incident further proof that strengthening Ukraine's air defense is important not only for protecting Ukrainians but also Europeans. "The intrusion of Russian missiles into Poland also serves as a reminder that for our two countries, there is nothing more urgent than countering our common, long-standing enemy," he wrote on X.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 74 missiles at Ukraine overnight on July 30, including 61 Kh-101 cruise missiles (54 of which Ukrainian forces shot down), four Zircon/Onyx anti-ship missiles, and nine Iskander-M/S-400/KN-23 ballistic missiles, as well as 284 drones. Strikes hit Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. At the time of publication, at least eight people were reported dead and dozens wounded. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had struck Ukrainian defense industry enterprises.
Even before the unidentified object was detected, Poland had scrambled military aircraft due to Russian long-range aviation activity and the massive strike on Ukraine. Air raid sirens were activated in Lublin and other areas of Lublin Voivodeship.
Sources differ: the Ukrainian side and some Polish officials, including the prime minister and defense minister, believe the fallen object was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. Official confirmation from Polish authorities is pending as an investigation continues. Data on the type and number of missiles also vary: the Ukrainian Air Force reports 74 missiles (including 61 Kh-101s), while other sources mention 61 cruise missiles without specifying other types. The death toll from strikes on Ukraine ranges from seven to eight people, according to different reports.