Mystery drone ‘crashes into Polish military base’ months after Russian incursion

A mystery drone has reportedly crashed inside a Polish military base, landing just metres from an ammunition depot and prompting an urgent security investigation.

The incident was said to have occurred at a base in Przasnysz, in north-central Poland, only months after drones linked to Russia entered Polish airspace in what officials described as a major NATO scare.

Local broadcaster Radio Zet reported that the unmanned aircraft came down only a few metres from a weapons depot at a highly sensitive electronic warfare facility.

The base is home to the 2nd Radioelectronic Center, a specialist reconnaissance and electronic warfare unit responsible for monitoring radio traffic in northeastern Poland, including activity around the strategically sensitive Suwałki Pass.

According to Radio Zet, soldiers on duty observed the drone flying over the base before it crashed approximately 70 metres from the ammunition dump.

Following an initial inspection, guards reportedly carried the drone into a building on the site. Polish Military Police have confirmed that an investigation is under way, with the origin of the drone still unknown.

Another local outlet, Niezalezna, later reported that the recovered drone was small and contained no memory card or SIM card.

In a statement to the outlet, a spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Gendarmerie said: “The Military Gendarmerie post in Przasnysz was notified of this incident at approximately 6pm and immediately took procedural steps (including securing the recovered UAV, and, for example, witness interviews began at 7.30pm).

“I confirm that the Military Gendarmerie Przasnysz is conducting an investigation in the above-mentioned case for an act under Article 212, paragraph 1, item 1, letter a of the Aviation Law Act.”

The offence involves breaching controlled airspace and carries a possible prison sentence of up to five years. A source quoted by Radio Zet suggested the drone may have been involved in surveillance, although this has not been confirmed.

“It’s just a suspicion that it was a reconnaissance drone that was reading the devices of the antenna field,” the source said. “The duty service of the unit was helpless. It watched as it flew and could do nothing. After its fall, an error was made and it was brought into the building; it could continue collecting data.”

The incident comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between NATO and Russia following repeated airspace violations.

In September, several drones crossed into Polish airspace on what officials said was a direct route toward a NATO base supplying weapons and air defence systems to Ukraine.

Poland shot the drones down and triggered NATO’s Article 4 emergency consultations, stopping short of declaring war.

It marked the first time since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine that NATO directly engaged with Russian forces. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said at the time that Russian drones crossing the border had brought the country “closest to conflict since WW2”.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the drone incursions as a deliberate “test” of how the alliance would respond, warning that it set an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe”.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said allies were united and prepared to defend “every inch” of NATO territory.