Polish authorities are investigating what object caused damage to a house in the village of Wiryki, eastern Poland, during an incident on the night of September 9-10, when about 20 Russian drones violated the country's airspace.
It was initially believed to be debris from a Russian drone shot down by Polish air defenses, but Polish media reported that the damage was likely caused by an AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile fired from a Polish F-16 fighter jet.
According to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, the missile had a misfire and did not explode, but it destroyed part of the roof and walls of the house upon impact. The prosecutor's office in Lublin has not yet officially confirmed this scenario and stated that the object has not yet been identified as either a drone or its fragment. The Ministry of Defense announced that the damaged house will be rebuilt with state funds.
President Karol Nawrocki has demanded a full explanation of the case, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed that regardless of whether it was a Russian drone or a Polish missile, the responsibility falls entirely on Moscow for the provocation with the drones. Russia denies attacking Poland and claims that its operations are directed solely against Ukraine.
The incident is reminiscent of the tragedy of November 2022 in the Polish village of Przewodów, when a missile fired by Ukrainian air defense fell on Polish territory and killed two people. At the time, Warsaw and its NATO allies stressed that responsibility for the tragic incident once again lay with Russia, due to its massive strikes against Ukraine, which led to the use of defense systems.