A drone recovered near the Polish coastal area of Rusinowo contained an approximately 4-kilogram high-explosive fragmentation warhead and a detonator, according to Polish authorities. Preliminary findings identified the aircraft as a Russian Gerbera 2 unmanned aerial vehicle.
The munition was removed from the drone and neutralized on the beach for safety reasons, while the UAV itself was seized for further laboratory analysis, Bartosz Okoniewski, deputy district prosecutor for military affairs in Poznań, told Radio Poznań.
Recovery and examination
Military and hydrographic services detected the drone in the Baltic Sea near a beach in the Rusinowo area of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship on September 14. The examination involved a prosecutor from the Military Affairs Department of the Szczecin-Nebuszewo District Prosecutor’s Office, together with the Military Counterintelligence Service, military and police bomb-disposal specialists, military police and a fire department team.
After an initial inspection, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz described the aircraft as a Russian military drone. Footage released at the time showed an airframe resembling a Gerbera, with its nose section torn away.
Origin remains under investigation
Polish authorities have not established how the UAV reached the Polish coast. The investigation remains ongoing, while the recovered airframe is due to undergo laboratory analysis.
In a preliminary assessment, Poland’s Ministry of Defence said Russia may have lost the drone during maneuvers over the Baltic Sea. The assessment has not resolved the circumstances of the incident.
