Poland Claims Russia Violated Its Airspace As Moscow Launches Lethal Missile Strikes in Lviv

Warsaw: Amid the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, Polish authorities claimed that Russia violated its airspace regulations with the launch of a cruise missile on Sunday. The launch came as Russia conducted lethal strikes in western Ukraine. A day after Moscow witnessed one of the deadliest terror attacks, the Russian forces launched air raids around several major Ukrainian cities including Lviv which is located near the Polish border. The strikes were conducted just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to take revenge for the terror attack on a Moscow concert hall. 

According to Polish armed forces, the missiles that targeted the Lviv region in the early hours of Sunday morning passed close to the Polish border. The authorities noted that one of these missiles entered the Polish airspace for as long as 39 seconds, The Independent reported. The unwarranted intrusion forced the Polish Air Force to place its F-16 fighter jets on high alert. “On 24 March at 4.23 am (3.23 am GMT), there was a violation of Polish airspace by one of the cruise missiles launched overnight by long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,” the Polish armed forces said in a post on X, formally known as Twitter. “The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds. During the entire flight, it was observed by military radar systems,” the post further reads. 

NATO's involvement becomes pertinent 

The Sunday statement also mentioned that NATO nations activated all necessary procedures to ensure the safety of Polish airspace. “Polish and allied aircraft have been activated, which may result in increased noise levels, especially in the south-eastern part of the country,” the armed forces averred. Despite ISIS-K openly claiming responsibility for the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to link the armed assailants involved in the incident to Ukraine. In his first address, 19 hours after the attack, the Russian leader maintained that Ukraine was providing the terrorists a “window” to escape. 

In his five-minute-long televised speech, the Russian president noted that someone in Ukraine had tried to help the attackers escape the border from Russia before they were apprehended by the Russian security service. “They were trying to hide and were moving toward Ukraine,” Putin said referring to four men who were eventually arrested by the FSB. “Based on preliminary information, a window for crossing the border was prepared for them by the Ukrainian side," he added. From the very beginning, Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied having anything to do with the Friday attack.