Media: Polish F-16 missile used in drone defence could be behind home damage

A missile fired from a Polish F-16 fighter jet may have been responsible for damaging a private home in eastern Poland during a Russian drone incursion on September 10, according to findings by Rzeczpospolita and state security sources.

The incident occurred in the village of Wyryki Wola near Włodawa, close to the Belarusian border, where an unidentified object pierced the roof and ceiling of a house. The residents escaped unharmed, with the homeowner telling local media that she had left her bedroom just moments before debris crashed inside, Caliber.Az reports. 

Poland’s District Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin has so far declined to confirm whether the object was a drone or part of one.

“At this point, I can’t definitively say what fell on the house in Wyryki. It’s under investigation, and we’re waiting for expert opinions,” said prosecutor Agnieszka Kępka, the office’s spokeswoman. A military weapons specialist has been assigned to provide an expert assessment.

Sources familiar with the case told Rzeczpospolita that the projectile was an AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile fired by a Polish F-16 during operations to intercept Russian drones. They say the missile suffered a guidance system malfunction and failed to detonate because its safety mechanisms remained engaged.

“There was a Russian airstrike, and the Polish side defended itself,” one security official explained. The missile, estimated at three meters in length and weighing more than 150 kilograms, reportedly crashed onto the property but did not explode.

Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk confirmed last week that Polish forces had shot down three drones during the September 10 operation, though he did not disclose the locations.

On that night, Russia launched an unprecedented violation of Polish airspace, with whole drones and fragments recovered across eastern Poland. Investigators have so far identified the remains of 17 drones, most of them decoys that caused no damage.

By Sabina Mammadli