US military drone crashes in Polish woodland during training

A US military drone has crashed in the woods in southwestern Poland after contact was lost during training, Poland's Defence Ministry said Friday. The ministry said that no one was hurt and there was no damage from the incident on Thursday afternoon.

Polish media reported that an eyewitness saw an object crashing in the woods near the village of Trzebien and notified the fire brigade. The military were already there when the firefighters arrived, Piotr Pilarczyk, spokesman for the national fire command told Polish state news agency PAP.

Pilarczyk said there were no explosions when the object, which had a wing span of about 8 meters (26 feet), crashed.


In an email, the ministry told The Associated Press that the drone had collected by the US side.

Poland's defense is on alert as neighbouring Ukraine is fighting an all-out war against Russia's military aggression. Trainers from several NATO member countries, including the UK, Canada, and Norway have been working with Ukrainian forces in Poland.

About 10,500 U.S. troops are stationed at various locations in Poland.

Two Polish men died in November when a missile fired by Ukraine air defense strayed into eastern Poland. Another stray missile violated Poland's airspace in December and was found in the woods in April.