Poland says ‘no indication’ missile strike was a Russian attack

( NYPost )

Poland and the head of NATO said Wednesday that the missile that hit Poland and killed two people was likely a stray fired by Ukraine’s forces and not a Russian strike.

“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles, unfortunately, fell on Polish territory,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”

NATO leaders on Wednesday held an emergency meeting in Brussels, where Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg echoed the preliminary findings.

“We have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack,” Stoltenberg said.

But Stoltenberg added that he wanted to “be clear” that “this is not Ukraine’s fault.”

“Russia bears ultimate responsibility, as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” he added.

The missile landed on a grains facility in the village of Przewodów, about 15 miles from the Ukrainian border, and initially raised concerns that neighboring nations could be pulled into the Ukraine war.

President Biden told reporters Tuesday evening that it was “unlikely” the deadly strike had been fired by Russia, but that NATO would meet to “support Poland’s investigation.”

Poland said it would invoke NATO’s Article 4, a formal call for allies to meet about a security threat, but it’s unclear if they still will after findings suggested that the blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Though Ukraine initially blamed Moscow, Russia has said it had nothing to do with the deadly blast.

The explosion near the Ukrainian border came as Russia has amped up its missile attacks targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure as the nine-month-long war progresses.

Photos taken after the blast show immense damage to the village of Przewodów, including what appears to be a massive crater in the ground.

In one of the first daylight images taken following the explosion, shared to Twitter by Polska Policja, investigators can be seen sifting through the hole in the ground.

“Police have been securing the area since the beginning of the event,” authorities said.