Poland says the missile that fell on its territory probably belonged to Ukraine

Poland said on Wednesday that the missile, which crashed on the border with Ukraine and killed two, was launched by Kiev’s air defenses, likely to counter Russia’s actions.

Polish President Andrzej Duda calmed international fears about a further escalation in the Ukrainian war, saying “absolutely nothing indicates that this was a deliberate attack against Poland” and that it was “likely” that it was a Ukrainian missile.

Likewise, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, said that after Russia did not take any responsibility for the incident, there was no element pointing to a “deliberate attack”.

The missile, which hit a grain drying plant on Tuesday, left the town of Przewodow in shock and sparked international fears of a possible escalation of the conflict.

At Poland’s request, NATO called an emergency meeting this Wednesday.

At the end of the meeting, Stoltenberg said the collision “probably resulted from a missile coming from the Ukrainian anti-aircraft system to protect the country against Russian missiles”, but reiterated that “Russia bears ultimately the responsibility”. The illegal war against Ukraine”.

US President Joe Biden also said it was “unlikely” for the missile to come from Russia, while the Kremlin said it “has nothing to do with what happened”.

“The wreckage found in Poland was categorically identified by Russian experts…

“High-precision attacks were carried out in Ukraine at a distance of more than 35 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border,” the note said.

Initially, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba dismissed the idea that it could be a Ukrainian missile as a “conspiracy theory”.

The impact of the missile occurred in the Przewodow locality on Tuesday afternoon, killing two farm workers.

“I’m scared. I didn’t sleep all night,” said 60-year-old Anna Magus, a teacher at a primary school in the city. I hope it’s a stray missile or we’re left defenseless,” she said.

Police cordoned off the explosion site.

– G20 calls for calm –

In Bali (Indonesia), where the G20 summit was held, Western leaders said that no one should make hasty analysis. China has called for “calm and moderation”, while Germany’s head of government, Olaf Scholz, warned of the danger of “haste conclusions”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video conference speech that initially the attack on Poland was “a message from Russia to the G20 summit”.

Poland urgently convened its National Security Council on Tuesday and urged its Moscow ambassador to make “urgent detailed statements”.

The government also increased the “readiness of some combat units and other services”.

– NATO commitment –

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and is occupying parts of the neighboring country’s territory despite a series of defeats in recent months.

Sharing a 530 km border with Ukraine, Poland has taken the regional lead in providing military and humanitarian aid to its eastern neighbor and declaring sanctions against Russia.

The conflict is causing deep discomfort in Poland, where the memory of Soviet rule is abundant.

Poland is protected by NATO’s commitment to collective defense, enshrined in Article 5 of the founding agreement, but the Alliance’s responses depend on the conclusions of the source.

The explosion followed a massive Russian missile attack on cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, including Lviv, near the Polish border.

Zelensky said the attacks cut the power of the homes of about 10 million people, but announced that electricity would be increased to eight million again a few hours later. It also caused the automatic shutdown of two nuclear power plants.

Governor Oleksiy Kuleba warned that next week will be “hard” for residents of the Kyiv region.

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© Agence France-Presse