Warsaw: Ukraine said it faced fierce attacks in the east from Russian forces reinforced with troops withdrawn from Kherson in the south, while NATO and Poland concluded a missile that crashed in Poland was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defences.
American President Joe Biden also stated that the United States and NATO are investigating the incident in which two people were killed when it crashed in Przewodow, the eastern region of Poland. Only preliminary information is available at this time. He said that the missile may not have been fired from Russia and that cannot be said until it is fully investigated.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman in Moscow said no Russian strike Tuesday was closer than 35 kilometers from the Ukraine-Poland border. The Kremlin denounced Poland’s and other countries’ initial response and, in rare praise for a U.S. leader, hailed Biden’s “restrained, much more professional reaction
The ministry explained that this is a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation. Biden also stated that he will not comment on the incident until a detailed investigation is conducted. Biden was speaking after the emergency meeting of NATO held during the G-20 conference in Bali, Indonesia.
This is the first time Russian weapons have been launched against a NATO country since the invasion of Ukraine. With this, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called an emergency meeting of the Allies.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Zelensky responded by condemning the incident as a very important escalation of the war.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the government is investigating the incident.
The Polish president said the missile was probably a Russian-made S-300 dating from the Soviet era. Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union, fields Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin’s invasion forces.
Poland's prime minister said the matter was an isolated incident and there was no evidence of more missiles.
"This is not Ukraine's fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg also said it was likely to have been a Ukrainian air defence missile. Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden had said the trajectories suggested the missile was unlikely to have been unleashed from Russia. Russia denied responsibility.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demurred, saying "I have no doubt that it was not our missile", Ukrainian media reported on Wednesday. He said he based his conclusion on reports from Ukraine's military which he "cannot but trust".
Such an incident has also taken place while Russia is at loggerheads with the NATO allies in the context of the Ukraine conflict.
Officials from NATO allies Norway, Lithuania and Estonia are trying to find out more details about the incident.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Heutfeld said that this is a very serious incident, but the picture is not clear. Lithuanian President Gitanus Nausėda tweeted that every inch of NATO territory must be protected.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the leaders will discuss the G20 summit in the context of the missile attack against Poland. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others have spoken to the Polish government on the phone.
At the same time Ukraine said it faced fierce attacks in the east from Russian forces reinforced with troops withdrawn from Kherson in the south, while NATO and Poland concluded a missile that crashed in Poland was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defences.
The government in Kyiv was working to restore power across the country on Wednesday after intense Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure earlier in the week, officials said.
The incident occurred while Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles on cities across Ukraine, targeting its energy grid and worsening power blackouts for millions, in what Ukraine says was the most intense bombardment of the nine-month-long war.
-Ap/Reuters