A balloon from Russia flies into Poland
5 January 2025 18:40
Polish police found a balloon in the forest near the town of Prostki in the Warmia and Mazury Voivodeship, which probably came from the Kaliningrad region of Russia. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to RMF FM.
An employee of one of the district’s forestries reported the balloon wreckage to law enforcement. A preliminary examination confirmed that it was a meteorological instrument used, among other things, to measure temperature and humidity.
The fact that the weather balloon probably came from the Kaliningrad region of Russia is indicated by the Cyrillic markings, police said.
The media reports that this is not the first weather balloon to fall in the region. Last year, several such objects were found in the Warmia and Mazury Voivodeship, including in the vicinity of Pisz, Milakowo and Węgorzewo. This is because the province borders the Kaliningrad region. The land border is 200 kilometers long.
It is worth noting that at the end of December 2024, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosyniak-Kamysh made a statement about drones and missiles that flew into the country’s airspace. According to him, these missiles and drones did not threaten facilities in the country. Therefore, the military did not shoot them down.
When the missiles flew into Poland, “it was a matter of seconds,” so they did not need to be shot down if it did not threaten Poland and other NATO countries. Kosinyak-Kamysh claimed that “there has never been a case when a missile was aimed at a target on Polish territory.”
Also, he said, NATO has not made any decisions to allow Poland to shoot down missiles over Ukrainian airspace. Therefore, the country, according to the head of the relevant ministry, “will continue to defend its territory.”
