Polish PM Says Crater-Making Missile Likely Russian Kh-101

Sun Sep 06 2026 07:16:01 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

A missile that crashed in eastern Poland created a 10‑meter crater, officials suspect it was a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile from the Lviv assault.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the unknown object that fell in eastern Poland was probably a Russian Kh‑101 ballistic missile used during the attack on Lviv. The impact left a 10‑metre crater near the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, 100 km from the Ukraine border. Polish authorities intercepted the missile on radar with an F‑16 and found no casualties, though the event was treated as serious. Ukrainian officials agreed the missile had breached NATO airspace. Investigation continues to verify the missile’s exact type and launch origin.

Poland Prime Minister Says Crater‑Making Missile Likely Russian Kh-101

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the unknown object that crashed into a field in eastern Poland early Thursday was most probably a Russian Kh‑101 ballistic missile, likely launched from the recent strike on Ukrainian city Lviv.

The missile created a 10‑metre (33‑foot) crater just outside the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, about 100 km from the border with Ukraine. Officials reported no casualties on the scene, but the incident was taken seriously and investigated immediately.

Tusk met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lublin the night before and addressed the fallout. He added that Poland’s air defence detected the missile at about 03:40 local time and a F‑16 fighter jet intercepted it before it disappeared from radar a few minutes later.

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called the missile a Kh‑101 cruise missile that had crossed into Polish airspace, violating NATO coverage. Poland’s Defence Minister, Władysław Kosiniak‑Kamysz, said about 20 unidentified objects were spotted close to Polish airspace overnight and that pyrotechnical analysis was underway.

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