Ukrainian and Belarusian arrested in Poland for flying drones over government buildings

On September 15, citizens of Ukraine and Belarus were detained for launching a drone over the Belvedere Palace, one of the residences of the Polish president, and government buildings in Warsaw. This was reported by the spokesman for the coordinator of Poland's special services, Jacek Dobrzyński, reports TVN24 TV channel.

The official noted that the State Protection Service "acted very vigilantly and quickly, identifying the persons who were the operators of this drone."

"They are a young Belarusian woman and her colleague from Ukraine in their twenties. These individuals were directly detained by the State Security Service. The police were notified, and they also arrived at the scene and took them into custody," Dobrzynski said.

The media learned that a 21-year-old Ukrainian citizen and a 17-year-old Belarusian woman were detained in the case, which was confirmed by the police. Earlier, country's prime minister Donald Tusk reported on the detention of two Belarusian citizens.

The spokesperson also said that the detainees "are giving explanations directly at the police station," and that the employees of the Polish Internal Security Agency "are keeping an eye on the situation and are also checking what motivated these people to launch the drone in the restricted area."

When asked whether it was already known how the detainees explained their actions, Dobrzhynsky said he did not know. He noted that investigative actions are ongoing.

At the same time, the official emphasized: "We deny the rumors that this is some kind of large-scale spy operation. At this stage, no one can say for sure."

"These are young people, maybe it was a consequence of recklessness, maybe ignorance, maybe they wanted to shoot some kind of movie here, over [the Royal] Lazenky Park. Moreover, they were in Lazenky Park and launched this drone from there," the spokesman added.

Law enforcement officers are "taking measures" in this case under one of the articles of the Aviation Act, said Edyta Adamus, a spokeswoman for the Warsaw police. Under this qualification, the defendants could face up to five years in prison.

"At this stage, the evidence and the circumstances of the incident indicate a violation of aviation law, not a crime of espionage," said Piotr Antoni Skiba, a spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, adding that the office expects to hand over the case file on September 17.

• On the evening of September 15, Polish PM Tusk said that in Warsaw a drone was neutralized that flew over the Belvedere Palace and government buildings. The incident occurred five days after the of the Russian drone attack in Poland.
• Earlier, in July, Tusk said that 32 people suspected of involvement in sabotage and attacks had already been detained in Poland by order of the Russian special services. The defendants are citizens of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Colombia.