The rocket that killed two people in the far east of NATO country Poland on Tuesday evening sent the world community into turmoil. Crisis meetings have been held in NATO and many have questioned whether this could lead to an escalation of the conflict and in involve NATO more in the war.
In the night until Wednesday, however, alarming information arrived about the rocket that struck about six kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Preliminary indications are that the missile was fired from Ukraine at an incoming Russian missile, unnamed US officials say.
Russia has always denied that the country fired rockets at Poland.
– Sent from Missile Defense
US news agency AP cites unnamed government sources on the information, while German news agency DPA writes that Biden briefed G7, EU and NATO leaders in secret emergency meeting during G20 meeting in Bali.
Anonymous US officials tell the AP that it indicates the rocket was fired by Ukrainian forces at Russian rockets that were used in attacks against Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure on Tuesday.
The new information contradicts previous information from US authorities, where intelligence sources claimed that it was a Russian rocket that landed in Poland.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s power grid for a long time, and Ukraine’s missile defense is trying to protect many of its targets by sending its own missiles against Russia’s attack missiles.
Biden has spoken
US President Joe Biden held an emergency meeting in Bali along with the leaders of Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and Britain on Wednesday night following the rocket attack on Poland.
Shortly before the meeting, reporters on the scene asked Biden if he could say more about what he knew about the situation.
– No, Biden responded bluntly before reporters were escorted out of the briefing room, according to CNN.
After the meeting, however, Biden makes a startling statement.
He says preliminary information suggests the rocket that crashed in Poland on Tuesday is unlikely to have been launched from Russia.
– Unlikely
– It is unlikely that it was launched by Russia. But we’ll see, Biden said.
He put the statement in the context of the rocket’s trajectory, without specifying anything else, saying:
– I’ll make sure I find out exactly what happened.
The EU said in a statement after today’s meeting that it had discussed the explosion in Poland.
– We will offer our full support and assistance to Poland in the ongoing investigation. We have agreed to stay in close contact to find out the next steps in the investigation, writes the EU according to Reuters.
On Wednesday evening, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he had no conclusive evidence as to who launched the rocket.
– The investigation is ongoing. It was most likely a Russian-made rocket, Duda said according to the report RadioZET.
– Keep calm
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says Poland has decided to step up monitoring of the country’s airspace.
– I ask all Poles to remain calm in the face of this tragedy. We must exercise self-control and caution, says the Prime Minister.
The president of Poland wants the same.
– Let’s keep calm. What happened was an isolated incident. There are no indications it will happen again, Duda says Sky News.