A missile crashed in Tarnawa-Kolonia, in the Lublin region of Poland, on Thursday, July 20, 2026, during massive Russian strikes on Ukraine.
The impact site is located approximately 80 kilometers from the Lviv region and the Ukrainian border.
Diameter of the crater discovered in a field near Tarnawa-Kolonia
Local police discovered a crater 10 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep in a field approximately two kilometers from residential areas in Tarnawa-Kolonia. Debris from an unidentified object was scattered within a 200-meter radius of the site.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces stated that a Mi-24 helicopter located the probable impact site in unbuilt terrain.
Official responses to the projectile
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that recovered fragments indicate the projectile was a Russian Kh-101 missile. Tusk assured that Polish anti-aircraft defense would have been able to shoot down the missile if it had deviated toward inhabited areas.
“There is no reason to think that Poland was the target,”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriï Sybiga stated the projectile was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile and that its intrusion into Poland constitutes a violation of NATO airspace. Sybiga stated the intrusion reminds both nations that countering their common enemy is an urgent priority.
International reactions
European Council President Antonio Costa denounced the massive Russian strikes in Ukraine and the violation of Polish airspace. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the Russian strikes that killed civilians in Ukraine and the violation of Polish airspace.
Russia launched 74 missiles and 284 drones at Ukraine during the night, resulting in at least eight deaths.
In September 2025, approximately twenty Russian drones that entered Polish airspace were either shot down or crashed. In November 2022, a Ukrainian defense missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, killing two people.
