Mariusz Błaszczak made the statement at a news conference on Thursday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The defence minister announced the results of a government inquiry into a "military object" found in a forest near the north-central city of Bydgoszcz last month.
Błaszczak told reporters that the Polish Armed Forces’ Airborne Operations Command had been alerted by Ukrainian officials about a possible Russian missile heading towards Poland on December 16.
The defence minister said that Poland in response raised combat readiness and Polish and American planes took off to monitor the situation, the IAR news agency reported.
Moreover, in line with procedures, the Airborne Operations Command notified its superior, the Polish Army’s Operational Commander, Gen. Tomasz Piotrowski, that “an unidentified object has entered Polish airspace,” Błaszczak added.
The defence minister further stated: “The inquiry found that the Operational Commander neglected to perform his duties by failing to inform me, the Government Security Centre and other relevant agencies about the object.”
Błaszczak, who is also a deputy prime minister, said that, according to a daily report he received from the Operational Command on December 16, “there were no violations or breaches of Poland’s airspace that day, which later turned out to be untrue,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
‘Potential personnel decisions or disciplinary action’
Błaszczak told the news conference that the Operational Commander, besides “failing to inform his civilian superiors about the situation,” also failed to order a “wide-ranging search” for the object "that fell on Polish territory," the IAR news agency reported.
A single police patrol was dispatched to the object’s potential landing site, while a helicopter search was carried out as late as December 19, after which the search operation was abandoned altogether, the government inquiry found.
Błaszczak said that “potential personnel decisions or disciplinary action will be taken after consulting the president, who has the ultimate authority over the armed forces.”
Private broadcaster RMF FM reported on Wednesday that the "military object" found in north-central Poland last month was a Russian CH-55 missile.
Thursday is day 442 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, Reuters, PAP