Russian military drone crashes and explodes in eastern Poland, defence minister says

A military drone that crashed in a cornfield and exploded in eastern Poland early on Wednesday was Russian, the country's defence minister has said.

Police said they received reports of the crash around 2 am and found burned metal and plastic debris at the scene near the village of Osiny.

As a result of the explosion, windows were broken in some houses but nobody was injured, PAP reported.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Poland's Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed the drone was Russian.

"This was another provocation carried out by the Russian Federation, it was a Russian drone. Note that it happened in a particular moment, as peace talks are ongoing and there are hopes for the end to the war that Russia declared against the state of Ukraine, but which also challenges the security of the NATO member states. In such a moment Russia provokes again," he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the media that the drone was a Russian version of the Shahed model, which is produced by Iran.

The military reported that the unmanned aircraft had a Chinese engine installed.

Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command said in a social media post that no violations of Polish airspace from neighbouring Ukraine or Belarus had been recorded overnight.

Officials initially believed the explosion may have been caused by a part of an old engine with a propeller.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, there have been a number of incursions into Polish airspace, raising alarm in the European Union and NATO member state and reminding people how close the war is.

Poland is among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and will spend 4.12% of its GDP on defence this year, according to estimates published by NATO.

And in March, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced plans to provide military training to "every adult male" in the face of ongoing security threats.