There is no doubt that we must be, together with our allies, prepared for a joint response 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 are alarming. Of course, Ukraine, which is very well prepared to defend against drones, is also not 100% effective. To put it mildly, Minister Tomczyk informed me that in total 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 things here — whether railway operations or workplaces — because I do not rule out that such situations could also occur. I hope not, but only our preparation can be maximal. That is the best guarantee that no dramatic things will happen. I would now like to give the floor to General Bagan. Please give a brief update on the situation at the border crossings with Ukraine, and later General Chojnacki will give a coherent account of what happened overnight from the military'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 clearance at the crossings with Ukraine on the Ukrainian side, due to the threat of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles. And practically throughout the day and the entire 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 clearance, we also carried out clearance. Around 4:10 a.m., a drone attack struck a petrol station about 2 km from the border crossing in Dorohusk. The explosion was so strong that the windows at our post on our side shook.
An evacuation of the border crossing was announced immediately. We had developed these scenarios beforehand, so the whole system worked. 25 Border Guard officers and 25 customs and treasury administration officers were evacuated from the post in Dorohusk. The remaining part of the crossing's staff — that is, phytosanitary and veterinary services — totaling about 78 people, plus we additionally evacuated over 280 people from the crossing area outside the crossing zone, to create as little threat as possible to their lives and health. This included five coaches full of passengers, and those coaches were also transported outside the crossing area. As for our personnel, they took shelter in hiding places that had been previously designated, so there was no threat to the lives and health of these people. At roughly 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 — 66 people from our personnel and personnel of the National Revenue Administration, plus over 280 people from the crossing area, regarding the travelers. The travelers were evacuated outside the crossing area 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 those hiding rooms, given that the threat was not confirmed by the military — so there was in fact no attack directed at the Hrebenne border crossing. 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 rocket — 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 confirm 100% 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, yes. And indeed, after the information that a bomb exploded at the Moldovan-Ukrainian crossing, we observed frequent requests from the Ukrainian side to suspend border traffic. The information about the situation on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border occurred on the 9th and 10th — we already had three requests to suspend clearance in Dorohusk, two in Zosin. On the 11th we had one request to suspend clearance 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 voivodeship crisis management plans within the critical infrastructure framework, where the crossings operate, we took such basic measures to ensure the safety of both officers and travelers. 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 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 the operation of the border crossings in two aspects. First, when the Ukrainian side reports an alarm and we see neither our own nor Ukrainian towers — that is, we see no flying objects that could pose a threat — we then suspend border clearance at the request of the Ukrainian side. And the second, more alarming variant, when after the Ukrainian request to suspend traffic we see on the Ukrainian Air 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 the coaches outside the border crossings, so as not to create a threat to the people who are at the border crossing. Additionally, the people who are at the crossing — in heavy traffic we have this 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 the travelers to go together with the officers and other services to the hiding places in the border crossing area. Regarding the functioning of these types of solutions, they worked 100% both in Hrebenne and in 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 the coaches outside the crossing and completing the clearance either outside the crossing or again returning to the border crossing. So this element worked for us. And a very important element that would be worth considering is the issue of officer safety. Those who are at the crossing after evacuation, within the framework of the evacuation, can go down to the hiding places. Nevertheless, on the state border line where we have border posts and at the posts at the entrance to the border crossing, it would be good for us 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 barriers where the officer would have the possibility of observing the state border line, but also taking shelter in those places, and that would be a very good solution. Regarding crisis and crisis management, it is a matter of, upon receiving information about an alarm, disseminating that information. We have radios, but the customs agencies and other services that do not have direct communication are not able to receive the information quickly enough if that time were very short. We came up with our own ad hoc solution, to use the loudspeakers in service vehicles to announce the alarm, but that is a target solution. It would be good — we will be talking with the voivodeship governor — to at least ad hoc, until there is a central system, perhaps also operating at the crossings, to purchase loudhailers 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 as supply channels, there is a very large number of ADR vehicles with fuel. In connection with this, it would seem that one should consider 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 into a safer place. We made such an attempt today in Dorohusk. The police, very nicely together with our patrols, moved these vehicles out from in front of the crossing, a little bit into the country, to minimize the risk if some drone were to circle around in our areas. Mr. Minister, Mr. Prime Minister, I briefly report our needs and the current situation, and these evacuation solutions seem, on the spot, to be very good solutions.
Thank you very much. We will come back 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.
