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'No indication' missile strike on Polish village was intentional: president

16.11.2022 13:00
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that there was "no indication" that a missile that killed two people in a village in the southeast of the country a day earlier was intended to hit Poland amid Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Audio
Andrzej Duda
Andrzej DudaPhoto: PAP/Paweł Supernak

The explosion on Tuesday at a grain facility in southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border came as Russia fired dozens of missiles against cities across Ukraine in a new wave of attacks targeting critical energy infrastructure, according to officials.

"There is no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland," Duda said before an emergency meeting of Poland's National Security Council on Wednesday.

"It was not a rocket aimed at Poland," he added.

'S-300 rocket' probably 'fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense'

"From the information that we and our allies have, it was an S-300 rocket made in the Soviet Union, an old rocket and there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side," Duda told reporters in between meetings with senior government, security and military figures.

"It is highly probable that it was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense," he also said during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

'We were dealing most probably with an unfortunate event': Polish PM

Morawiecki told reporters: "There is no indication that yesterday's event was an attack on Polish territory. We were dealing most probably with an unfortunate event, as a result of which Polish citizens died."

He offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

He said: "We will take care of these families and strengthen our presence and the presence of our allies' air forces on Poland's eastern border. It is proof of NATO's strength and increased security."

Morawiecki stated, as quoted by his office: "Ukrainian forces, countering a massive Russian attack, launched their missiles yesterday to shoot down Russian missiles. There are many indications that one of these missiles fell on Polish territory without any intention on either side."

He also said that Poland was still examining the possibility of invoking Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which calls for consultations when a member country considers its security under threat, the Reuters news agency reported.

Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened,” Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

Morawiecki told the media that NATO ambassadors were holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the incident in southeastern Poland.

'It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia': Biden

US President Joe Biden said earlier in the day that the missile that killed two people in NATO member Poland was probably not fired from Russia.

Biden was speaking after talks with leaders of Western allies gathered for a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Reuters reported.

Biden tweeted: "I’m discussing a meeting with world leaders on the loss of life in eastern Poland and the United States’ commitment to support Poland’s investigation."

Leaders from NATO members Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France and Britain took part in the meeting, as well as non-NATO member Japan and representatives from the European Union of which Poland is part, according to the Reuters news agency.

Asked whether it was possible to say if the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said: "There is preliminary information that contests that. I don't want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see.”

'Our full support for Poland's investigation of the explosion'

Biden said in a tweet that he spoke with the Polish president "to express my deep condolences for the loss of life in eastern Poland and offer our full support for Poland's investigation of the explosion."

'Russia-made missile dropped on village of Przewodów': Polish foreign ministry

The Polish foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the rocket fell on Przewodów, a village about 6 km from the border with Ukraine.

"On 15 November 2022, another hours-long, massive shelling took place of the entire territory of Ukraine and its critical infrastructure by the armed forces of the Russian Federation," the statement said.

"At 3:40 pm, a Russia-made missile dropped on the village of Przewodów, district Hrubieszów, Lubelskie province, and resulted in the death of two citizens of the Republic of Poland," it added.

Poland summons Russian ambassador

The Polish foreign ministry also said that Poland's top diplomat Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador "and demanded immediate and detailed explanation."

Russia denied it was responsible for the explosion, Reuters reported.

'Russian missile terror': Ukraine's Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier blamed the incident on "Russian missile terror."

There was no immediate response from Kyiv to statements on Wednesday that the incident was caused by a stray Ukrainian missile, Reuters reported.

Wednesday is day 266 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.