By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres conveyed great concern Wednesday after Russian drones reportedly entered Polish airspace overnight, striking residential areas and raising fears of regional escalation.
"I can tell you that the secretary general is following with great concern the reports that Russian military drones entered Poland overnight, in violation of Poland's airspace, resulting in damage to residential areas in Poland," Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference.
Dujarric stressed that "the incident, which reportedly took place during another large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine, again underlines the regional impact and real risk of expansion of this devastating conflict."
"There is an urgent need for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire and for a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine, one that fully upholds Ukraine's sovereignty, its independence and its territorial integrity, in line with the Charter of the United Nations, international law and relevant UN resolutions," he noted.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country's airspace was violated by Russian drones overnight, adding that NATO and Polish forces downed several. Tusk said authorities initially recorded 19 airspace violations.
The Russian Defense Ministry, however, denied any intention to strike Polish targets during its Tuesday night attacks on Ukraine. The ministry expressed a willingness to discuss the incident with Polish officials.
It acknowledged conducting a massive strike against Ukraine's military-industrial facilities in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr regions, as well as in Vinnytsia and Lviv.