Poland has raised the level of combat readiness of some military units and activated the police and special services in the border area (photo by EPA/BGNES).
An explosion in Poland that killed two people was likely caused by Ukrainian air defenses, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday.
According to him, there are no signs that the air strike, which took place on November 15 near the border with Ukraine, was a deliberate attack on Poland. “This is probably an unfortunate accident,” Duda stressed and added, “Ukraine was trying to defend itself against Russia’s massive airstrike.”
There is no evidence that last night’s incident in Poland was due to deliberate actions, nor that Russia is preparing a military attack against NATO, the pact’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said at a press conference following a meeting extraordinary North Atlantic Council.
The investigation into the case continues and we must await the results, he urged. Preliminary assessment indicates that the crash was likely due to Ukraine’s air defense being activated against Russian missile attacks, Stoltenberg said.
Ukraine is not to blame, Russia bears full responsibility for the continuation of the war, the secretary general said. He noted that last night’s incident occurred on the day of massive Russian airstrikes across Ukraine. Russia must stop this senseless war, Stoltenberg insisted.
US President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” that the missile was launched from Russian territory.
Kiev contradicts its allies – it was not our missile
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other hand, maintains that the rocket that caused the explosion and the death of two people in Poland “is not Ukrainian” and was not launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU). “I have no doubt it was not our missile or our rocket attack,” he said. Zelensky added that he has received reports from the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Air Force and “cannot distrust them”.
He has demanded that Ukraine participate in the investigation into the incident and wants access to where the missile fell.
The head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that Kiev, together with its partners, wants to analyze yesterday’s incident and get acquainted with the information that gave rise to NATO’s conclusions.
He also said Ukraine had evidence of a “Russian trace” in the incident and, like Zelensky, accused Moscow of “missile terror”. Danilov did not provide any information about the evidence he mentioned.
Both Poland and the United States will have to agree to Ukraine participating in the investigation of the incident, the Polish president said. “The investigation is being conducted by Polish and American experts, and if someone is to be allowed to participate in it, at least the consent of both parties will be required,” he said at a news conference.
It may not be necessary to activate Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said today there may be no need to trigger the Article 4 procedure of the North Atlantic Treaty after it became clear that the missile that killed two people in the country yesterday was likely fired from Ukrainian air defenses Reuters reported.
NATO will deploy additional air defense assets on the territory of Poland, Morawiecki added at a press conference.
Article 4 provides for consultations between allies in the event of a threat.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the same press conference that there are no signs of a deliberate attack on the country. The missile that crashed in Poland was likely fired by Ukrainian air defenses, he suggested.
The Polish president added that it was probably an old Soviet-made S-300 missile.
Biden: The missile probably wasn’t fired by Russia
A missile that killed two people in Poland probably wasn’t fired by Russia, US President Joe Biden earlier said after talks with Western allied leaders amid fears the conflict in Ukraine could spill over to neighboring countries .
According to US officials, the initial findings suggest that the missile that hit Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an approaching Russian missile.
Any Russian attack on Poland could risk widening the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as NATO members are committed to collective defense under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.
Biden invited some Western leaders who attended the G20 summit to a meeting. Present were the leaders of NATO countries Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France and Great Britain, as well as non-NATO Japan and EU representatives.
Asked if it was too early to tell whether the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said: “There is preliminary information disputing that claim. I don’t want to say until we fully investigate, but it’s unlikely, consistent with the trajectory.” that was launched by Russia, but we’ll see. The United States and NATO countries will investigate thoroughly before acting,” Biden said.
According to Russia, it is an S-300 missile of the Ukrainian army air defense
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that any Russian missiles hit Polish territory, describing the reports as a “deliberate provocation aimed at making the situation worse”. “Photographs circulated in Poland last night of the debris found in the Przewodów settlement were unequivocally identified by Russian military specialists as elements of the Ukrainian army’s S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, quoted by TASS .
The ministry said today that Russian missile attacks on Ukraine yesterday were aimed at targets located at least 35km from the Polish border.
The situation with the debris of a rocket that fell in Poland does not give grounds for escalation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today, quoted by TASS.
Warsaw quickly realized that it was debris from a missile launched by an S-300 anti-aircraft system, which had nothing to do with Russia, Peskov also said. “No, I don’t know there was such a thing,” the spokesman replied, when asked by a reporter if the Russian authorities had contacted the US or NATO to avoid the escalation. “The point is that there is no reason for escalation. The Poles could have immediately reported that this was debris from a missile launched by the S-300 system. If they had done this, all specialists would have immediately understood that this cannot be it was a missile that has a connection to the Russian armed forces,” Peskov was adamant.
The Kremlin has welcomed US President Joe Biden’s “restrained” reaction to the blast in Poland, the Associated Press reported.
Kiev has called for the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine
A no-fly zone should be declared over Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said, quoted by DPA.
The minister said this after a rocket landed on the territory of neighboring Poland, killing two people. The incident has raised fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
“We ask for the sky to be closed because it has no borders. There are no borders for uncontrollable missiles either. As well as for the threats they pose to our European Union and NATO neighbors,” Reznikov wrote on Twitter. “This is the reality we warned against,” added the minister.
Advisor to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Tuesday that Russia was to blame for any “missile accidents” as it launched its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. “In my opinion, we have to follow only one logic. The war was started and is being waged by Russia. It is carrying out massive attacks on Ukraine with cruise missiles,” the adviser said in a written statement after the US president United States Joe Biden said the missile that killed two people in Poland probably not launched by Russia.
“Russia has turned the eastern part of the European continent into an unpredictable battlefield. The intent, the means of execution, the risks, the escalation – all of this originates from Russia. And there can be no other explanation for any missile accidents,” Podoliak added.
