Polish authorities said Wednesday that an unidentified object that exploded in a cornfield near the village of Osiny was most likely a military drone, the latest in a series of incidents underscoring the risks of the war in Ukraine spilling across borders.
The explosion, which occurred around 2 a.m., shattered windows in nearby homes but caused no injuries, according to state news agency PAP. Police reported finding burned metal and plastic debris at the site, along with scorched corn covering an area of roughly 8-10 meters in diameter.
"I was sitting in my room at night, around midnight, maybe, and I heard something just bang," local resident Pawel Sudowski told Lukow.tv. "It exploded so loudly that the whole house simply shook."
Lublin regional prosecutor Grzegorz Trusiewicz said preliminary findings pointed to a drone. "Examination of the explosion indicates that the ... object is most likely a military drone," he told reporters, noting that it appeared to contain a small amount of explosives. Investigators from both civilian and military agencies were dispatched to examine the wreckage.
Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command initially said no violations of Polish airspace from Ukraine or Belarus were detected overnight. Officials also considered the possibility that the debris was from an old engine before the defense ministry clarified its military drone assessment.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the incident resembled cases in which Russian drones had strayed into Lithuania and Romania. He also suggested possible political motives. "In this analysis we should not rule out a connection between the ongoing peace talks in the United States, inspired by President Trump, and the provocative actions of the Russian Federation," he told PAP.
The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not respond to requests for comment. The blast came just days after U.S. President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies in Washington, following his earlier talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Air raid sirens also rang out overnight in Ukraine's Volyn and Lviv regions, though local governors reported no confirmed strikes. The timing has heightened speculation that the Osiny drone incident was linked to Russia's broader campaign of pressure against Ukraine and its Western backers.
Poland has experienced several cross-border incidents since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. In 2022, a Ukrainian air-defense missile landed in the Polish village of Przewodow, killing two people. In 2023, a Russian missile briefly entered Polish airspace near the Ukrainian border. Earlier this year, unidentified debris believed to be from a SpaceX rocket was discovered in two Polish locations.
