DOROHUSK — Three separate warnings jolted this Polish border village in a single day, alerting residents that a drone or missile might enter from Ukraine and urging them to be ready to seek shelter.
High above Dorohusk, in eastern Poland, thin vapor trails stretched across the light-blue sky as military helicopters thundered overhead. At the nearby border crossing, just 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) away, traffic into Ukraine was halted three times. On one occasion, personnel were evacuated.
The alerts and border disruptions unfolded Thursday while The Associated Press was visiting the community. Together, they captured the growing tension along Poland’s eastern frontier, where Russia’s war in Ukraine — now in its fourth year — is being felt with increasing immediacy.
Fear deepened after two Russian drones exploded on the Ukrainian side of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing during the early hours of Sept. 13. The blasts were loud enough to be heard clearly throughout Dorohusk.
“There is new restlessness and fear because you could hear those explosions very well on that night in our village,” said Dorohusk Mayor Wojciech Sawa. “We had never had something like that before. This was the first time the sirens wailed.”
Poland braces for a more serious Russian hybrid attack
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sept. 17 that Russia was preparing hybrid attacks involving drones or rockets against European countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland. He warned that areas near the Ukrainian border could face particular danger in the months ahead. Other European leaders and intelligence agencies have issued similar warnings.
Dorohusk residents have spent years living alongside the conflict. In the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, they watched Ukrainian refugees cross the border. Then, in July, a Russian missile traveled through Polish airspace before crashing roughly 90 kilometers (56 miles) inside the country.
Still, the latest drone strikes — along with the Polish government’s campaign to prepare people for potentially more serious incidents — have created a sharper sense of unease. For many residents, the official warnings have brought confusion as well as concern.
Children in Poland’s border areas evacuate as air-raid warnings sound
Jarosław Wójcicki, director of the Dorohusk school, said teachers and staff — including the school psychologist — now speak with students “practically every day” about how to respond and remain safe.
The school has been evacuated once so far. Wójcicki pointed to two basement rooms where students sheltered, with the windows covered to reduce the risk of injuries from flying glass if an explosion occurred.
“The older children had no problem at all, without showing any particular emotion,” the director said. “You could see a little fear among the younger children, but they were well looked after by their teachers.”
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Wójcicki oversees the safety of hundreds of students who travel to the school from surrounding villages. His voice faltered as he described the weight of that responsibility.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz visited the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing on Sept. 22, announcing that additional air-defense systems would be sent to the border area. He also said Patriot batteries had been positioned in both Polish regions bordering Ukraine, including the region where Dorohusk lies.
Poland still has work to do on civil defense readiness
Although government warnings have grown more urgent, even communities closest to Ukraine acknowledge that their civil-defense systems are still developing.
“We are at the beginning of the process of building civil resilience and the resilience of the state to threats,” said Mirosław Sokal, head of resident safety for Lublin, about 90 kilometers west of Dorohusk. “We have to remember that over the past 40 years we thought we would be living in peace.”
Until stronger infrastructure is in place, Sokal said residents should follow one basic rule during an air threat: move indoors and position themselves behind two walls, away from windows.
Sawa said most Dorohusk residents live in detached houses with basements, making those spaces the clearest option during an air emergency. “If I don’t have a basement myself, my neighbor likely does,” the mayor said.
But people on the streets of Dorohusk seemed more confused about their options in case of a real attack.
“For now, I sleep well at night, so I don’t really hear it,” said Irena Popek, a woman in her 80s. If planes are coming, she said, her basement was not an option as it was flooded. “I simply have nowhere to hide, and that’s it.”
Renata Pastuszo, a local shop employee, said she continued working through the recent siren alarm because it’s better to keep a positive spirit in front of the Russian threat.
Krzysztof Rulka, another resident, complained that alerts were now coming too often, leaving people confused about their meaning.
“If someone told me that a drone was going to explode in the center of Dorohusk, then I would know what to do,” he said. “But this kind of confusion — there’s an air attack somewhere in Ukraine — well, what am I supposed to do now? Run to Germany?”
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