Russian missile entered Polish airspace and returned to Ukraine three minutes later — General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces

The "unknown object" that flew into the country's airspace from Ukraine was a Russian missile.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, General Wiesław Kukuła, said this at a press conference after a meeting of the National Security Bureau, the Polish media outlet RMF24 reports. 

"Everything indicates that a Russian missile entered Polish airspace," Kukuła said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Bureau after an "unknown object" flew into Poland. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Chief of the General Staff General Wiesław Kukuła, Operational Commander of the Air Force General Maciej Klisz, Polish Ambassador to NATO Tomasz Szatkowski and others attended the meeting.

"All the elements related to Poland's security, the functioning of the Polish army and civilian control over the army and the exchange of information (...) worked as well as possible," said Kosiniak-Kamysz, Minister of National Defence of Poland. 

The Russian missile crossed the Polish border and flew 40 kilometres into Polish territory. Three minutes later, the missile returned to Ukraine. 

It will be recalled that on the morning of December 29, Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv and other cities were attacked. As of 14:00 (Kyiv time), at least 18 people were killed and 132 wounded. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.