US, allies unable to confirm reports of Russian attack on Poland amid NATO concerns

WARSAW: The US and its Western allies said they were investigating but could not confirm reports on Tuesday (15 Nov) that the explosion in NATO member Poland was caused by a Russian stray missile. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense denied it.

Two people were killed in an explosion in the eastern Polish village of Przewodow, about 12 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, firefighters said.

The Associated Press previously cited a senior US intelligence official who said the explosion was due to a Russian missile entering Poland.

Polish radio ZET believed the explosion was caused by two stray missiles, without elaborating.

As members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) engage in collective defense, a Russian attack on Poland risks escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began with the invasion of Moscow in February.

In Washington, however, the Pentagon, the White House, and the U.S. State Department said they were unable to corroborate the report and were working with the Polish government to gather more information. He said it was “incredibly disturbing”.

Germany and Canada said they were monitoring the situation, and Norway said it wanted more information.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian missile had hit Poland, causing the conflict to “significantly escalate”. He provided no evidence of a strike.

Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that Russian missiles hit Polish territory, saying the report was a “deliberate provocation intended to escalate the situation”.

“The attacks on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border were not carried out by Russian subversive means,” the statement added.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia was firing missiles at cities across Ukraine on Tuesday. According to Kyiv, the attack was the deadliest wave of missile strikes in nearly nine months of war. Some hit Lviv, where he was less than 80 kilometers from the border with Poland.

Fabrice Pottier, the former head of policymaking in the NATO Secretary-General’s Office, told Sky TV that it was too early to tell whether the possible attack was intentional or accidental.

But these events were enough to trigger a NATO treaty provision for Poland to convene a NATO conference “to consult with each other, assess threats and take concrete action,” Potier said. .

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called an emergency meeting of the government committee on national security and defense affairs, government spokesman Piotr Müller said on Twitter.

Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Public said the situation was “unacceptable” and could lead to NATO providing more air defenses to Poland and Ukraine, which Potier supported. .

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda tweeted: “NATO territories must be defended in every corner!

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsal said he was “in talks with our allies about how we will jointly respond to what happened decisively,” according to BNS newswire.