We must be aware, and I am addressing all of you here, that from today we will effectively be proceeding in a very intensified mode, because what we know and what can be expected is that the coming weeks and months will be a period of very intensified actions on the Russian side, and unfortunately we cannot rule out that this escalation will also concern our territory. I hope not. I hope that this worst-case scenario will not materialize, but unfortunately, the events so far confirm the information we have been receiving for many months that even the worse variants are possible. I will also want, and here I will ask for information from the services, that we are able to verify one-to-one all the information we receive, especially in alarm mode at night. This is not only a matter of the Government Security Centre and passing information to residents, but it is also very important from the point of view of both the army and the government that every piece of information that appears in the public space — and I am not talking about an incoming missile, because that is the army's job — but information coming from the Ukrainian or Russian side, whatever it may be, because I would like us to have the full ability to verify and confirm this information, so that we do not make any mistake when our urgent reaction is needed. I spoke a moment ago with Minister Sikorski. He is just returning from Kyiv to Warsaw. I hope he arrives safely in Warsaw. We will also think together about how to mobilize our allies. We do not want to fall into any nervous mood, and emotions are least advisable here, but there is no doubt that we must be prepared together with our allies for a joint reaction, if such a need arises. These attacks tonight indicate that the Russians are ready to use more dangerous equipment than before. I am talking about jet drones. Their range, their precision — they are alarming. Of course, Ukraine, which is very well prepared to defend against drones, is also not 100% effective. To put it delicately, Minister Tomczyk informed me that a total of 13 locations on the Ukrainian side were hit. So we must be aware that Russia possesses such capabilities, and that is why I will also be waiting for information on how we are prepared for the possible use of drones to disrupt operations here — whether at railway operations or at workplaces — because I do not rule out that such situations could also occur. I hope not, but only our maximum preparation is the best guarantee that no dramatic things will happen. I will now give the floor to General Bagan. Please give a brief report on the situation at the border crossings with Ukraine, and later General Chojnacki will give a coherent report on what happened during the night from the army's point of view. Please go ahead.
Mr. Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday from 2:00 p.m. there were successive interruptions in border control at the border crossings with Ukraine on the Ukrainian side due to the threat of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles. And practically throughout the entire day and night, this traffic was being resumed and suspended. And we, of course, as the Border Guard, adapted to the conditions on the Ukrainian side. So at our border crossings as well, when the Ukrainian side suspended traffic, that traffic was suspended; when the Ukrainian side carried out border control, we also carried out control. Around 4:10 a.m., a drone attack struck a gas station about 2 km from the border crossing in Dorohusk. The explosion was so strong that the windows at our checkpoint on our side shook. Immediately, an evacuation of the border crossing was announced. We had developed these scenarios earlier, so the whole system worked. 25 Border Guard officers and 25 customs and tax administration officers were evacuated from the checkpoint in Dorohusk. The remaining part of the crossing's staff — that is, phytosanitary and veterinary services — a total of about 78 people, plus we additionally evacuated over 280 people from the crossing area outside the crossing zone, in order to create as little threat as possible to their lives and health. This included five coaches full of passengers, and these coaches were also transported outside the crossing area. As for our personnel, they took shelter in previously designated hiding places, so there was no threat to the lives and health of these people. At approximately the same time, we received information that an unidentified object was also heading towards the Hrebenne border crossing, and upon receiving this information, a decision was also made to evacuate the crossing. In this case as well, over 300 people were evacuated — our personnel and personnel of the National Revenue Administration, which was 66 people, plus over 280 people from the crossing area, regarding the passengers. The passengers were evacuated outside the crossing area in order to minimize as much as possible the effects of a potential drone strike. Our personnel, however, took shelter in previously designated rooms associated with the possibility of hiding. And here, after consultation with the command and guidance center of the armed forces, a decision was made to keep as few people as possible in these hiding rooms, given that the threat was not confirmed by the army, so there was really no attack directed at the border crossing. At Hrebenne, around 8:27 a.m., another strike occurred on the Ukrainian side on a railway siding, and from our information obtained from the Ukrainian side, it appears that a drone — sorry, a drone — struck the locomotive of a freight train. The train consisted of empty tank cars. So these are the information we obtained from the neighboring side. I know that other information appeared in the media. Here, we are not able to 100% confirm which information is true. Mr. Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, the current situation at the border crossings is under control, traffic is proceeding normally. We are not detecting any threats at this moment. Thank you. Would colleagues from the Lublin Border Guard Department like to add anything from the last moment? General, if you would allow.
The situation, as the commander presented it. Of course. Indeed, after the information that a bomb exploded at the Moldovan-Ukrainian crossing, we observed frequent occurrences of border traffic suspensions coming from the Ukrainian territory. The information about the situation on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border occurred on the 9th, 10th — we already had three requests to suspend border control in Dorohusk, two in Zosin. On the 11th, we had one request to suspend border control in Dorohusk. On the 12th, we had two requests in Dorohusk and two in Hrubieszów. Indeed, regarding the preparation of the crossings, taking into account the order of the Chief Commander and the crisis management plans of the voivode within the critical infrastructure framework, where the crossings operate, we took basic measures to ensure the safety of both officers and passengers. The commanders of the border crossings received orders to issue helmets and vests to the control posts upon the announcement of an alarm. They are 100% available for use by the officers. We indicated hiding places. These places at the border crossings are somewhat adapted from possible locations that can be used. They are simply basements, because we do not have other infrastructure there, but it seems to us that these are reasonably safe places. We established procedures for action in the event of border crossing operations in two aspects. First, when the Ukrainian side reports an alarm and we see neither our own nor Ukrainian towers, and we do not see flying objects that could pose a threat, we then suspend border control at the request of the Ukrainian side. And the second, more alarm variant, when after the Ukrainian request to suspend traffic, we see on the Ukrainian R-Alert applications — indeed, flying objects — and ODN confirms to us objects in the area approaching the border crossing area. In that case, the commanders have orders to move coaches outside the border crossing area, so as not to create a threat to the people at the border crossing. Additionally, regarding the people at the crossing — in heavy traffic we have a problem, because trucks are not able to turn around and we are not able to evacuate them quickly enough. In that case, there is information for passengers to go together with the officers and other services to the hiding places in the border crossing area. Regarding the effectiveness of these solutions, they worked 100% both at Hrebenne and Dorohusk. Earlier, of course, before this, we met with all the services at the border crossings, familiarizing them with the locations of this deployment. With the customs service, we agreed on the possibility of moving coaches outside the crossing and completing border control either outside the crossing or returning to the border crossing. So this element worked here. A very important element that would be worth considering is the issue of officer safety. Those who are at the crossing after evacuation can go down to the hiding places during the evacuation. However, on the state border line where we have border posts and at the posts for entry into the border crossing, it would be advisable to leave officers. And here with the Chief Commander we discussed whether there would be such a possibility from the army to quickly implement so-called HESCO bastions. These are large sand-filled shelters where the officer would have the possibility to observe the state border line, but also take shelter in these places, and that would be a very good solution. Regarding crisis management, it is a matter of, upon receiving information about an alarm, disseminating that information. We have a radio telephone, but customs agencies and other services that do not have direct communication are not able to receive the information quickly enough if the time is very short. We came up with our own improvised solution — to use the loudspeakers, not microphones, but loudspeakers in service vehicles to announce the alarm, but this is a temporary measure. It would be good — we will discuss with the voivode — to at least temporarily, until there is no central system, perhaps also operating at the crossings, to purchase loudspeakers that would allow us to announce alarms within the border crossings. And of course, here a very good option and also cooperation with the police, because it must be said that at the end of the week we always have very large queues of trucks waiting to leave Poland. And taking into account Hrebenne and Dorohusk — these are supply channels. Therefore, a very large number of ADR vehicles with fuels. Therefore, it would seem that it would be worth considering the possibility of moving these ADR vehicles, which pose a very real threat if something were to happen related to an explosion, to try to move these vehicles out of the queue gently to a safer place. We made such an attempt today in Dorohusk. The police, very nicely with our patrols, moved these vehicles out from in front of the crossing. Out from in front of the crossing — out from in front of the crossing a little bit into the country, in order to minimize the risk if some drone were to circle around in our areas. Mr. Minister, Mr. Prime Minister, I report briefly our needs and the current situation, and these evacuation solutions seem to be a very good solution on the spot.
Thank you very much. We will return to this cooperation with the army and to your needs. General, please give the information. Chief of Staff of the Operational Command. Please go ahead.
