In the early hours of December 29, 2023, the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces confirmed that an unidentified object had breached Polish airspace, later identified as a Russian cruise missile. General Wieslaw Kukula, chief of the general staff, stated that the missile covered approximately 40 km (25 miles) within 3 minutes before leaving Polish territory.

Polish and NATO radar systems closely monitored the missile's trajectory, leading to the immediate redirection of F-16s that were either on patrol or scrambled in response to the intrusion. The General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces released an official statement on X (formerly Twitter), confirming the violation and identifying the object as a Russian cruise missile.

Both Polish and allied radar systems tracked the flight path of the missile, and air defense systems remained on high alert. In an effort to verify the radar data, forces and resources from land forces, air forces, and territorial defense forces were deployed to trace the object's flight trajectory on the ground.

The incident occurred amidst escalating tensions in the region, as Ukraine reported Russia's largest day of air strikes since the conflict began. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, a total of 158 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles were launched against Ukraine, with 87 missiles and 27 Shahed drones successfully intercepted and downed by Ukrainian air defense.

In response to the airspace violation, Poland summoned the Russian charge d'affaires and demanded an explanation, while urging an immediate cessation of such actions. Andrei Ordash, Russia's charge d'affaires in Warsaw, denied the breach, stating that Poland had provided no evidence to support its claim.

To further investigate the incident, the Polish Military conducted a ground search around the last radar contact point with the missile. However, at 3:00 p.m. on December 30, the search concluded with negative results, confirming that the object did not strike Polish soil.

This airspace violation is not the first of its kind in Poland. In November 2022, two Polish farmers lost their lives when a Ukrainian air defense missile misfired and struck the village of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border. Additionally, in December of the same year, an unarmed Russian Kh-55 cruise missile was launched from Belarus, crossing approximately 500km of Polish territory before landing in a forest. The missile was only discovered in April 2023.

With this latest incident, Poland remains on high alert and continues to monitor its borders closely amidst ongoing tensions in the region.