An alleged missile strike in Poland Tuesday has killed 2 people. The Polish military and prosecutors have arrived at the scene of the blast, Visegrad 24 reports. The incident has increased tension.
The incident occurred amid a large-scale missile attack that Russia launched at Ukraine. The Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushenko called it the “most massive shelling of Ukraine’s energy system since beginning of the war.” Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky earlier said that at least 85 missiles had been launched at Ukraine.
According to Polish media, at least two people died in an explosion that hit a grain drier facility in the Polish town of Przewodow located not far from the Ukrainian border. Some media then claimed that the blast was caused by a missile strike.
The incident came ahead of an upcoming seventh ‘Ramstein’ meeting, where Ukraine’s western backers usually discuss military aid and new arms deliveries to Kiev.
Other media reports said:
UN Chief concerned by reports of missile exploding in Poland. The UN chief calls to avoid escalation.
Russian Missile Unlikely, Says Biden
U.S. President Joe Biden said it is unlikely based on trajectory that the missile that fell in Poland was fired from Russia.
Biden told reporters: “There is preliminary information that contests that, I do not want to say that until we completely investigate, but it is unlikely in the minds of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia.”
White House said: Biden to hold emergency roundtable meeting with G20 world leaders.
U.S. Department of Defense could not confirm reports of alleged fallen missiles in Poland.
Pentagon Responds
“I can tell you that we do not have any information this time to corroborate those reports and are looking into this further,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters, when asked about the Przewodow incident.
That has not stopped Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky from doing so, however. He claimed the Przewodow incident was a Russian missile strike against NATO territory and an attack on “collective security,” urging the bloc to act against the “terrorist” state.
The U.S. military is “aware” of reports of missiles supposedly hitting Polish territory and killing two people but have no evidence to confirm them, Ryder told reporters on Tuesday.
Some western media outlets and politicians have claimed that Russia is responsible for the incident. However, no evidence has been provided to support such assertions.
Ryder vowed to provide an update on the situation when the US is better informed about the incident.
When pressed by journalists on an earlier AP report, citing a U.S. intelligence official and claiming it was Russian missiles that had struck Poland, Ryder once again insisted that the Pentagon has “no information to corroborate” such reports but is “looking into it.”
Poland Has No Exact Information On Whose Missile Landed
Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters that Poland has no exact information on whose missiles landed in its territory.
The official added that nothing indicated shelling of Polish territory by missiles could be repeated.
He further noted that U.S. experts would be joining the investigation into the incident.
Poland has invited international experts to investigate the landing of missiles on its territory, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.
“We are working to establish all the causes of what happened and everything that happened, with international experts whom we invited to the group of our experts and investigators,” Morawiecki said.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller has called on the public and the media “not to publish unconfirmed information” and said he would not answer any more questions about the incident until further notice.
Poland’s Local Media Reports
Poland’s local media outlets reported that two civilians died in Przewodow, in Poland’s Lublin province, just across the border with Ukraine.
Photos and videos from the village, published by Polish media, purport to show missile fragments with no markings. Multiple media outlets have identified them as fragments of an S-300 air defense missile, in service with the Ukrainian military, but that has yet to be officially confirmed.
Earlier, Polish media reported blasts had rocked the town of Przewodow. A grain drier facility was reportedly hit, local media said.
Local fire service spokesman, Senior Captain Marcin Lebiedowicz, told Radio Lublin: “The reasons for this incident are not known at the moment.”
He confirmed that there had been casualties and said his agency had received “a report of explosion.”
AP’s Report
AP reported, citing an unnamed U.S. intelligence official, Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
While AP reported that the missiles were “Russian,” quoting an unnamed U.S. intelligence official, the Pentagon said it had no information to corroborate that claim.
Warsaw has also refrained from blaming Moscow.
AP reported, citing a “senior U.S. intelligence official,” that Russian missiles had crossed into Poland, killing two people.
Ukraine Blames Russia
NATO “needs to act,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Tuesday as he laid the blame for an explosion in Poland not far from the Ukrainian border on Russia.
“This is a Russian missile strike on collective security,” Zelensky said in a statement, calling it “a very serious escalation.”
He also urged western nations to put Russia “in its place” and branded the country as “terrorists.”
Deliberate Provocation, Says Russian Defense Ministry
The Russian Ministry of Defense said: The statements of the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of “Russian” missiles in the area of the settlement of Przewodów is a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the missile fragments shown by Polish media had “nothing to do.” No missile strikes were carried out against targets near the Polish-Ukrainian border, and any reports saying otherwise were “a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation,” Moscow added.
Russia has not carried out any strikes against targets near the Polish-Ukrainian border, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday.
Some Western media outlets and politicians have claimed that Russia is responsible for the incident. However, no evidence has been provided to support such assertions.
S-300
Russia’s Mash Telegram channel has published a photo of what it said is a fragment from an S-300 defence system missile. This Soviet-era equipment is used by Ukraine.
NATO
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tells Polish leader he is consulting allies.
NATO Secretary-General said the bloc’s 30 members were “consulting” about the incident in Poland, and that all the facts needed to be established.
NATO Council meeting is meeting today amid Poland incident. NATO is also studying reports of the incident in coordination with Poland.
NATO’S Article 4
Poland has put its military on alert and is discussing whether to invoke NATO’s Article 4, officials in Warsaw said on Tuesday evening. The government is still investigating the cause of explosions in a village near the border with Ukraine, which Kiev blamed on Russia.
Article 4 is a mechanism invoked in cases when a NATO member feels threatened, which requires consultations with the other 29 member states and a consensus decision on how to proceed. It is different from Article 5, which obligates the bloc to defend a member attacked from the outside.
Baltic States
Officials from the Baltic States blamed Russia and claimed that Poland should invoke NATO’s relevant article in retaliation.
UNSC
The UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Ukraine during a meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting, entitled “maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine,” will begin at 3:00 p.m. EST (20:00 GMT), according to the UNSC’s calendar of activities.
Poland Increases Combat Readiness
Following Poland’s Security Council meeting, the Polish government announced that some of its military units will be placed on high alert. The spokesperson for the government refused to further elaborate on the incident at this point in time.
Polish PM Convenes Security Meeting
Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki has convened a security meeting amid recent unconfirmed reports of two missiles landing in Poland.
A Polish government spokesperson has urged not to publish unconfirmed information in connection with reports about the reported explosions.
Russian Ambassador was summoned to Poland’s Foreign Ministry.
