Russian missiles landed on NATO member Poland, killing two people, a senior US intelligence official said Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. A second source also confirmed the incident, which occurred ten kilometers from the border with Ukraine, whose energy structures were subjected to a massive launch of Russian missiles throughout the day.
If proven to be Russian missiles, it would be the first time during Russia’s war in Ukraine that a Russian weapon has inflicted damage on a NATO country.
Earlier, Polish media reported that two missiles fell in Poland. Warsaw has confirmed that two Polish nationals were killed as a result of the explosion, but has so far made no official statement on the question of what caused the accident and where the missiles may have come from.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened an extraordinary meeting of the government’s National Security and Defense Committee, after which government spokesman Piotr Müller announced that Poland is considering activating Article 4 of the Charter of NATO, i.e. the initiation of consultations within the alliance regarding a threat affecting a member state. In addition, a decision was made to increase the combat readiness of some parts of the Polish army.
Previously pOla firefighters reported two deaths explosion in the village of Przewodowin the eastern part of the country, ten kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
So far, the Polish government has not confirmed the announcement of the fall of Russian missiles on the territory of the country.
For information to “Election Journal” a Russian missile intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses deviated from its trajectory and struck a tractor at an agricultural facility where grain was being dried. Two men died.
According to Polish radio station ZET, which first reported the incident, “two stray rockets” fell today in the Przewodów area in the Lublin Voivodeship.
United States Department of Defense it is aware of the reports and is checking them, but cannot confirm them at this time, its spokesman, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, told Reuters.
Russia has denied that the missiles it fired landed in Poland on November 15th. Ministry of Defense of Russia he called the information a “deliberate provocation” aimed at spreading false news about Russia.
The agency also denied that the country’s military fired rockets in the area of the Polish-Ukrainian border.
During the day on Tuesday, the Russians fired at least 85 missiles on Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Kiev authorities, it was the worst wave of Russian rocket attacks since the war began nearly nine months ago.
Russia has bombed cities and energy plants in Ukraine, including Lviv, a city in the western part of the country, close to Poland. There is also a version that they could be Ukrainian air defense missiles.
“There was an explosion in eastern Poland”, said government spokesman Piotr Müller. He said teams of experts are investigating the case and will continue to work to gather details about what he described “serious” situation.
Although did not mention anything about Russian missiles, Mueller, quoted by the Guardian, told reporters the government is assessing whether there are conditions for activating article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This would lead to a meeting of NATO members being called, as the territorial integrity of a member state is threatened. According to the art. 4 “the parties to the treaty shall consult whenever, in the opinion of either of them, a threat to the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of them has arisen”.
However, Article 4 it does not mean that there will be direct pressure to act. The consultation mechanism has been activated several times in NATO’s history. The last time this happened was a year ago when Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack from Syria. In this case, NATO agreed to consult but took no action.
Currently it’s not about art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to which an attack on a NATO member state such as Poland involves the collective defense system and involves the alliance in the war. However, the activation of this member is not automatic, but at the discretion of the organization.
Until Even NATO does not confirm that these are Russian missiles. “NATO is monitoring the situation and the Allies are consulting closely. It is important that all the facts are established”, the organization’s secretary general said Jens Stoltenberg.
Russia has denied involvementwith its MoD stating so “there were no attacks on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border”.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who delivered his evening address to the nation, however, there is no doubt that Poland has been hit by Russian missiles. According to him it is “very significant exhalation” and we must act. “Missile attack on NATO territory… This is a Russian missile attack on collective security! This is a very significant escalation. We must act,” called Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Mariusz Gierszewski, the Polish ZET radio journalist who originally wrote that errant Russian missiles hit Poland, tweet an update, that debris from a downed missile would likely hit eastern Poland.
“My sources in the intelligence say that what hit Pzhevodov was most likely the remnant of a missile shot down by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Gierszewski later wrote, as quoted by the Guardian.
US President Joe Biden had a conversation with his colleague Andrzej Duda.
The president of EU Council Charles Michel he also issued a cautionary statement. He said she was “shocked” of reports that rockets or shells had fallen in Poland, killing two people, but he made no assumptions about the origin of the rockets.
Previously the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs he was the first from the international community to comment on Polish media news on Twitter, expressing his country’s readiness to defend every inch of NATO territory. The defense minister also expressed solidarity Latvia.
United Kingdom said this “maintain a close relationship” with the Allies in relation to messages. “We are investigating these reports and are in close contact with allies,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Germany he also said he was monitoring the situation.
