Dorohusk residents received three alerts in a day warning of possible drones or missiles crossing from Ukraine; traffic at the nearby crossing stopped three times. Two Russian drones exploded on the Ukrainian side Sept. 13, heightening local anxiety.
On Sept. 17, Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia was planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets against European countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland, and said areas bordering Ukraine could be especially vulnerable in coming months. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Sept. 22 that new air-defense elements were being brought to the border region; Patriot batteries had been deployed in Poland’s two regions bordering Ukraine.
Dorohusk’s school has been evacuated once, and staff discuss safety with students practically every day; children took shelter in two basement rooms with boarded-up windows. Mirosław Sokal, Lublin’s resident-safety chief, said civil-defense preparations were at an early stage and advised people under air threat to go indoors and put two walls between themselves and any window. Some residents said alerts were confusing or that they lacked a usable basement.
