Uncontrolled firing
The event took place on 2 November 2023 close the village of Topiło in Białowieża Forest. Soldiers of the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade were called to support the Border defender after detecting a group of about 10 migrants crossing the border. The patrol under Lieutenant L. put soldiers in the woods. erstwhile the immigrants did not halt despite the calls “Polish War, stop!” and “Polish Army, stop!” and ran towards the patrol, the officer fired an emergency shot and then a informing shot from the PM-98 device gun. The group began to flee, and the soldiers pursued.
During the run, the lieutenant tripped and fell, resulting in an uncontrolled firing of the gun. The rocket hit a 22-year-old Syrian citizen in the spine. Ballistics confirmed that a full of 3 shots were fired.
Immediately after the shooting, soldiers gave injured first aid, put on a dressing and kept it in unchangeable condition until the military ambulance arrived, after which the Syrian was transported first to the infirmary in Hajnówka and then to Białystok, where the rocket was removed. After a fewer weeks, he left the facility.
In his evidence shot, he claimed he didn't get help, and the officer immediately shot him. However, the accounts of another soldiers and the cameras contradict these claims, showing that the wounded was conscious, kept in contact and did not lose blood in the manner described in the testimony, and Lieutenant L. and the another military took good care of him.
Charges despite structural defects
The military police have initiated an investigation into the careless usage of weapons, and Syrian attorneys have reported a suspected crime. The opinion of Kmdr Lt. Włodzimierz Kopcia proved crucial, indicating that the training did not include weapon handling during the pursuit in hard terrain. The MON maintains that the training is adequate, and the soldier's defenders stress that the rules do not regulate tactics under specified conditions. The experts further pointed out the structural flaws of the PM-98 gun, which could have contributed to the uncontrolled firing.
However, these findings did not origin the soldier to be cleared of the charges. On 27 May 2025, Lieutenant L. heard allegations from Art. 354 §1 of the Penal Code for careless handling of weapons, which threatens him to 3 years in prison. Shot Syrian, surviving in Poland, demands compensation straight from a soldier. Defense, including mec. Michał Zaliwski, requested the dismissal of the case, stressing that the officer acted as part of border protection, and the incidental was an unfortunate accident exacerbated by defective equipment and deficiency of clear procedures; the applications went to the territory Attorney's Office and Military Garrison Court in Warsaw.
The Syrian is represented by Mr Piotr Zemła, a lawyer known, among others, from the time of the takeover of TVP by Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, who after December 2023 took the position of president of the TVP Supervisory Board. In his interview with Onet, he confirmed that he was a proxy for an immigrant surviving in Poland, but due to his bar secret he did not uncover who made contact or who financed legal services. According to Onetu's findings, they could be activists operating at the east border, maintaining permanent relations with foreigners, including those acting aggressively towards the services.
Criticism by Blasach
Former Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak besides referred to the case in social media.
The case of a soldier who received charges for defending the border described present by Onet is simply a state scandal and an act of treason by the Tusk State against people in uniform. alternatively of standing on the side of a soldier defending the border, the government's prosecutor is on the side of an illegal migrant who present demands compensation from a Polish officer. Donald Tusk spoke many times about being a wall behind the Polish uniform. It was empty words and hypocrisy. That's not how you build state security. That's how you break the back of an army. That's how you betray those who have the courage to stand on the front line.
