Abandoned Fagot ATGM Found in Forest Near Warsaw

A Soviet anti-tank missile system “Fagot” was found in the forest near the Polish village of Józefów, Otocki County, part of the Warsaw agglomeration.

The discovery was reported by the Polish military gendarmerie.

The incident occurred on Saturday, September 13. Experts from the Criminalistics Laboratory of the Military Gendarmerie, sappers and pyrotechnics worked at the site.

The launcher was immediately taken to a landfill for disposal. It is not specified whether it contained a missile.

It is unknown how the system ended up in the middle of the forest. The Polish army still has a significant number of “Bassoons” in service, so it is possible that the system could have been left behind after the exercise, in particular by territorial defense units.

It is quite possible that the system was demilitarized and ended up in private hands, after which it could have been used in military sports games such as airsoft.

If the installation was a military one, this could indicate possible provocations by hostile countries or serious negligence on the part of the Polish military.

The landmine incident

In January, four Polish soldiers were charged with negligence for the temporary loss of a shipment of 240 anti-tank mines.

The batch of mines was being transported by rail from the village of Hajnówka in eastern Poland and was headed to an ammunition depot in Mosty in the west of the country. The publication details that the mines were transported between July 4 and 7, 2024.

The military did not fully unload the train, which moved on with the mines.

The mines were found on July 16, 2024, in a railroad car at one of the warehouses of IKEA Industry Poland and handed over to the police the same day.

One of the possible reasons for the incident is that the documents indicated the wrong number of mines.