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The Polish government attributed the fall of a missile that killed two to a possible “unfortunate accident” by Ukrainian air defense, a theory backed by NATO, which ruled out a “deliberate attack.” In this line, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that the projectile would not have been launched by Russian troops. The Kremlin claimed it was a Ukrainian S300 missile, but kyiv accuses Moscow.
Turning point in the Russian war in Ukraine? For the first time in almost nine months of conflict, a missile falls on a country of the European Union and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
After a projectile hit Przewodów, an agricultural town in Poland about four miles from the border with Ukrainian territory, on the night of Tuesday, November 15, and left two people dead, mutual accusations between Moscow and kyiv have not been made. expect.
Although in the first hours of the fateful detonation, the Polish Government pointed to Russia, this Wednesday, November 16 -after an emergency meeting with NATO members- the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, affirmed that the projectile that fell in his country it was “probably an unfortunate incident” of the Ukrainian air defense.
“There are no reasons to believe that the missile incident was an attack,” the president added.
Initially, the Polish Foreign Ministry indicated that the missile was Russian-made, and President Duda assured that “it was most likely a Russian-made missile, but all this is still under investigation.”
Both the Ukrainian Army and the invading troops use Soviet-era Russian-made missiles.
Stoltenberg affirms that the missile would be from the Ukrainian defense
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added Wednesday that the deadly explosion in Poland was likely the result of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire, but said Russia bears “ultimate responsibility” for the war.
“An investigation is underway into this incident and we must await its outcome. […]. But we have no indication that it was the result of a deliberate attack,” Stoltenberg remarked after chairing a meeting of NATO ambassadors.
“Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was probably caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks,” he added.
US President Joe Biden was along the same lines of caution, considering it “unlikely” that the projectile was launched by Russia.
“There is preliminary information that denies it. I don’t want to say that until we fully investigate. But it is unlikely, based on its trajectory, that it was fired from Russia (…) But we’ll see,” said the leader of the White House.
Until now, the United States – which leads NATO – has insisted on not directly intervening on the ground to avoid a major war. Among his justifications, he also points out that Ukraine is not a member of the political-military alliance, so it is not possible to activate article 5, which establishes the joint defense of the members of the organization in the event that one of their nations is attacked. . A Russian attack on an alliance member country could change the equation.
Ukraine and Russia exchange accusations about the missile
The government of Volodimir Zelensky insists that it was an intentional Russian attack against a NATO member.
“Today what we have been warning for a long time has happened: we said that terror is not limited to the borders of our State (…) The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be for anyone within range of Russian missiles. “Fire missiles at NATO territory! This is a Russian missile attack against collective security! This is a very significant escalation. We must act,” the Ukrainian president said.
Meanwhile, the Vladimir Putin Administration denied its participation in the events and assured that the projectile that exploded on Polish soil was an S-300 missile from the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its soldiers did not target anywhere within 35 km of the Ukraine-Poland border.
Statements by various Ukrainian sources and foreign officials about the alleged “Russian missiles” landing on the town of Przewodów “are a deliberate provocation aimed at worsening the situation,” Moscow said.
The incident on Polish soil came as the Russian military launched more than 100 missile and drone strikes against Ukraine in the latest escalation of its invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said only about 10 of those devices hit their targets.
With Reuters, AP, EFE and local media
