August 26, Pozirk. A Polish serviceman was wounded yesterday evening while trying to stop a group of foreigners attempting an irregular border crossing via Belarus near Czeremcha in the Podlaskie voivodeship, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command reports.
A flashbang grenade exploded in the soldier’s left hand as he tried to stop irregular migrants who threw stones at Polish border guards, RMF FM said, citing Lieutenant Colonel Magdalena Kościńska. The victim was taken to hospital in Białystok and remains in a stable condition. His life is reportedly not in danger.
The military police launched an investigation into the incident that took place amid the migration peak day with 341 attempted crossings.
In June 2024, Pozirk reported the death of Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek, who was stabbed while on patrol duty by a man who attempted to cross from Belarus as part of a large group. Minsk has refused to cooperate with Warsaw in the investigation.
Poland has thwarted more than 3,300 irregular border crossings from Belarus this month, more than twice the number recorded in the same period a year ago.
The flow of people desperate to enter the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.
Belarus’ western neighbors call the migration crisis a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.
