Polish F-16 fighter jets deployed in response to Russian threat return to base

Earlier, Poland had deployed two pairs of F-16 fighters and an allied tanker in the face of Russian attacks on Ukraine.

"Due to the reduced level of threat, the operations of Polish and allied aircraft on duty in our airspace have been ended. The resources returned to their bases and standard operating activities," the Polish army's operational command said on X.

Poland ended a ground search on Saturday after finding no parts of a suspected Russian rocket which it said had violated the country's airspace on Friday morning, the Polish army said.

"At 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), the inspection of the designated area was completed... The search result was negative," the Polish army's operational command wrote on social media platform X.

"Military activities have been completed and we do not plan any further field verification."

Polish military officials said on Friday that an object had breached the country's airspace from the direction of its border with Ukraine on Friday morning before exiting within three minutes of entry.

Ukrainian authorities had reported a mass attack on various cities throughout Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.

"The Ukrainian side and allies have preliminarily confirmed our radar records that the object had left Polish territory," a spokesperson for the operational command told Reuters earlier on Saturday.

Nearly 500 soldiers of the Territorial Defense Force took part in the search near the city of Zamość in southeastern Poland, the operational command said on X.

On Friday evening, Poland's foreign ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires, demanding an explanation for the violation of its airspace.

Poland's Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Zalewski on Tuesday (Jan. 2) told private radio broadcaster RMF FM that the authorities were certain that the Russian rocket had left the Polish territory, adding that it had been confirmed by both Polish and NATO radars.