15:00 11-09-2025

Tovkach: Polish Airspace Breach Likely Caused by Decoy Drones

Sergey Tovkach said Polish airspace may have been violated by unarmed Gerbera decoy drones knocked off course by Ukrainian electronic warfare, not by combat drones.

Sergey Tovkach, CEO of Avianovations LLC, commented on the incident involving several drones violating Polish airspace.

He did not rule out that the drones could have been Russian but pointed out an important detail: the violators may have been cheap Gerbera decoy drones, which carry no warheads and are used only to distract Ukrainian air defenses.

Tovkach explained that the Gerberas flying alongside combat Gerans could have been thrown off course by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems. He noted that the number of receiver antennas on a drone determines its resistance to jamming. Since the Gerbera is only a decoy and not a strike drone, fewer antennas are installed on it to reduce costs. He suggested that if the Gerans had 12–16 antennas and the Gerberas only four, it was the Gerberas that were affected when electronic warfare was activated.

He added that the fact that 19 drones crossed the border supports the version that they were diverted by electronic warfare. According to Tovkach, it would not be difficult for Polish specialists to establish the truth. The Polish side has already confirmed that no traces of explosives were found on the drones.

Tovkach also analyzed a photo of a drone that fell in Poland and noted that there were no traces of braking or impact with the ground. He said the drone was either placed there for the photo or planted deliberately. The airframe, including the autopilot module, was intact. If the autopilot is original and undamaged, Tovkach said, this means the drone was diverted by electronic warfare. If the module was replaced, it means the drone was modified and used for a provocation.