A Polish soldier died Thursday from a stab wound he received last month from a migrant on the border with Belarus, Poland’s military said.
The soldier, identified only by his first name, Mateusz, was stabbed in the chest when a migrant unlawfully trying to cross the border from Belarus to Poland reached through the barrier bars.
Mateusz was hospitalized in serious condition at a hospital in the eastern Polish town of Hajnowska. He was taken to a military hospital Thursday in Warsaw, where he died.
"Despite the help provided in the area of the thuggish attack on the border with Belarus and the efforts of doctors, his life could not be saved," the army said in a statement.
"A young soldier, Mateusz, gave his life in the defense of Poland's border," Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X. "The motherland and his compatriots will never forget about this sacrifice. I extend words of deepest sympathy to his family."
After the attack, the Polish government pledged it would improve security at the border. Roughly 6,000 Polish troops patrol the border along with about 2,200 border guards and several hundred police.
Warsaw said last month that it would spend more than $2.5 billion on securing its eastern border, which it claims Russia uses to subvert the region.
Migrants have been rushing to the eastern border since 2021, when Russian ally Belarus opened travel agencies in the Middle East, presenting a new, unofficial route into Europe.
The European Union accuses Belarus of manufacturing a refugee crisis at its border by pushing migrants to illegally cross the border.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
