Militarnyi reports that a Russian Shahed long-range explosive drone remained in Polish airspace for approximately two and a half hours before crashing on 20 August. The drone was not shot down and went undetected during its entire flight over Poland.
Russia launches drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian civilians on a daily basis. At times, its explosive drones leave Ukrainian airspace and enter neighboring countries. So far, only Belarus—Russia’s ally—has attempted to shoot down these drones. In all other documented cases, including incursions into Moldova, Romania, Poland, and Lithuania, no drones have been intercepted.
The incident follows a pattern of Poland scrambling fighter jets during Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine. These aircraft usually do not intercept objects unless they allegedly directly threaten NATO territory.
Drone crossed multiple Ukrainian oblasts before entering Poland
According to analysis by Ukrainian monitoring groups, the Shahed drone flew across Ukraine overnight on 19–20 August, Militarnyi says. Its route reportedly passed through Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, and Lviv oblasts before entering Polish airspace.
The straight-line distance from the Ukrainian border to the crash site in the Polish village of Osiny is around 200 kilometers. Given the average speed of Shahed drones — between 120 and 150 km/h — the flight would have taken approximately 1.5 hours if it followed a direct path.
Air alerts in Ukraine are typically turned off 20–30 minutes after the threat ends, which suggests the drone left Ukrainian airspace around 1:00 Kyiv time. It then remained over Poland for about two to two and a half hours before crashing at 3:22 Kyiv time (2:22 Warsaw time).
Polish surveillance failed to detect the drone
Official reports indicate that Polish air surveillance systems did not detect the drone at any point during its flight across Polish territory. The crash occurred in Osiny, located in Lublin Voivodeship. The village lies approximately 100 km from Ukraine, 90 km from Belarus, and only 40 km from Warsaw.
Such drones have jamming-resistant navigation and would typically return to its programmed target even if disrupted by electronic warfare. That means only two scenarios are considered possible: either the drone experienced an internal malfunction, or it was intentionally directed toward Poland. In the case of electronic interference, the onboard autopilot would still attempt to resume the original route and continue toward the programmed destination.
The Shahed crash in Polish cornfield
As previously reported, Polish prosecutors confirmed that the wreckage found in Osiny came from a Russian drone. Initially, Poland’s army claimed no airspace violation had occurred, but this was later contradicted by the findings. The drone exploded in a cornfield, damaging a patch of farmland approximately 8–10 meters wide and breaking windows in nearby homes. No injuries were reported.
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