Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2, Poland claims
Poland has said what was probably a “Russian-made missile” fell on a village in the country’s east killing two people, but that there was “no concrete evidence” on who had fired it, as its NATO allies prepared to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike.
The Polish foreign ministry said the weapon fell on Przewodow, about six kilometres (3-1/2 miles) from the border with Ukraine, with the country convening a meeting of its national security council, Al Jazeera reported.
Poland’s foreign ministry said the strike took place at about 3.40 pm (14:40 GMT) on Tuesday.
A resident who declined to be identified was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying the two victims were men who were near the weighing area of a grain facility.
Warsaw not have any conclusive evidence who launched missiles: Duda
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw does not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched the missiles, but added that they were most likely Russian-made. He added that there is no indication that there will be a similar repeat of the incident.
Duda said it was very likely that Poland would request consultations under Article 4 at a meeting of the NATO alliance at 08:00 GMT on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador and “demanded immediate detailed explanations”, the foreign ministry said.
US, NATO investigating reports of Russian missiles in Poland
NATO and its allies, including the United States, have said they are investigating the cause of the explosion in Poland on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden, who is in Bali to attend the Group of 20 summit, said he had already spoken on the phone with Polish President.
Biden told Duda that Washington has an “ironclad commitment to NATO” and will support Poland’s investigation, the White House said after the call.
A group including Biden, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held an early morning discussion on the situation and loss of life. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was also in attendance although Japan is not a member of NATO.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also said he had spoken to Duda and that the alliance was monitoring the situation and consulting with its allies.
“Important that all facts are established,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
Russia's defence ministry denies Russian missiles struck Polish territory
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, no strikes were made on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border, while the published photos of some debris have nothing to do with Russian weapons.
All statements by Polish media about the alleged landing of "Russian" missiles are a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation, the Russian ministry has underscored.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told the Reuters news agency he had no information about the explosion.
Reactions to missile struck on Poland
Condemnation and concern swiftly rolled in from across Europe after news of the explosion broke, with many officials accusing Russia of being responsible for the incident.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a NATO summit, which would include Ukraine, to issue a “tough” collective response to Russia, while also urging Kyiv’s allies to provide the country with advanced weaponry and aircraft.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was a “significant escalation” of the conflict but did not provide evidence.
Meanwhile, officials from Norway, Lithuania and Estonia – all NATO members – said they were trying to find out more information.
Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks claimed on Twitter that Russia “fired missiles which target not only Ukrainian civilians but also landed on NATO territory in Poland”.
US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel called the reports “incredibly concerning” but added the question of whether the reported strikes were intentional or accidental “would be of importance”.
European Union chief Charles Michel said he was “shocked by the news of a missile or other ammunition having killed people on Polish territory”.
Poland summons Russian envoy
The Polish foreign minister has summoned the Russian ambassador to Poland for an explanation of the events connected to the explosion in Przewodów.
In a statement on Poland’s government’s website, a spokesperson said, “The minister of foreign affairs, Zbigniew Rau summoned the ambassador of the Russian Federation to the ministry of foreign affairs and demanded immediate detailed explanations.”
Poland puts military units on heightened readiness
Poland is putting some military units on a heightened state of readiness, following reports that missiles landed on Polish territory, government spokesman Piotr Muller said on Tuesday.
“There has been a decision to raise the state of readiness of some combat units and other uniformed services,” Muller said after an emergency national security council meeting was convened in Warsaw.
ZZ/PR
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