Polish prosecutors close Russian drone incursion probe without identifying perpetrators

Prosecutors close the case

The Lublin District Prosecutor's Office has discontinued its investigation into the drone incursion of the night of 9 to 10 September 2025 after failing to identify who was responsible. Spokesman Marcin Kozak announced the decision at a briefing on Thursday, 8 October 2026, and said that most case files are classified. Kozak said the drones were launched from the territory of a hostile state that will not cooperate with Polish law enforcement. He compared the dilemma to the one Dutch authorities faced after the downing of the Malaysian Boeing. Speaking to Rzeczpospolita, Kozak explained the basis for the decision.

I can only say that the investigation was discontinued because the perpetrator of the offence of violating Polish airspace, and thereby creating a threat to public safety, was not identified.

The incursion and the drones

Deutsche Welle reported that about two dozen Russian drones entered Polish airspace during a massive Russian attack on Ukraine. Rzeczpospolita, as cited by Niezalezna.pl, put the number at more than 30, while Radio ZET described several dozen. Debris was found in 27 localities across five voivodeships (lubelskie, mazowieckie, swietokrzyskie, lodzkie and warminsko-mazurskie), although a wnp.pl account of the prosecutors' communique gave 24 localities. Wpolityce.pl described the drones as Gerbera-type aircraft, most of them unarmed and without warheads or explosives. Deutsche Welle reported that Polish air defence was forced to shoot down drones for the first time, and that Warsaw called it an act of aggression and convened urgent consultations with NATO. Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had not planned to strike any targets in Poland, while Warsaw believes the violation of its airspace was planned.

Former head of the Military Counterintelligence Service Maciej Materka told RMF24 that Poland cannot assume the drones were accidental.

We cannot be naive and assume that these drones, which flew into Polish airspace, were accidental.

Materka said Russia uses increasingly brutal methods and is waging cognitive warfare, placing Poland in a hybrid war against an opponent it does not fully know.

Military response under review

Prosecutors also examined the response of the Polish military. On the decision of the operational commander of the Armed Forces branches, F-35 fighters fired air-to-air missiles aimed at destroying three drones that threatened state security. The missiles missed their intended targets, and fragments fell on farmland and forest near Choiny, Krzywowierzba-Kolonia, Cześniki and Wyhalew, where explosive materials detonated. Prosecutors concluded that the military acted in a state of necessity and within its powers, and closed that strand without charges. A separate probe into an unintended missile strike on a residential building in Wyryki-Wola during military operations had been closed several weeks earlier. Kozak said he could not disclose which specific drones were shot down.

The prosecutor's office set out its assessment in these words:

On this matter the conclusion is unambiguous: the military reacted appropriately and followed the applicable procedures. It had the right to shoot down hostile objects.

SIM cards and classified material

Some of the downed drones carried Polish SIM cards, according to Rzeczpospolita as cited by Niezalezna.pl and RMF24. Kozak has not said whether the cards were stolen or bought illegally, and that strand of the investigation is classified. Wpolityce.pl, citing the investigation, placed the launch platforms in the Russian oblasts of Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod and in occupied Ukrainian territory, and said some drones flew over Belarus before entering Poland. The same outlet called the outcome a capitulation by investigators. The justification for the decision remains classified, and the question of how the SIM cards were obtained remains unresolved.