US, NATO investigate Russian missiles in Poland

• The weapon fell in Przewodow, roughly 6 km from the Ukrainian border.
• NATO members are preparing an emergency summit to examine the strike.
• President Andrzej Duda was likely a Russian-made missile.

Poland says a “Russian-made missile” crashed on a town in the east, killing two people, but there is “no specific information” on who launched it. NATO members are preparing to conduct an emergency summit to examine the strike.

The Polish foreign ministry stated the weapon fell in Przewodow, roughly 6 km from the Ukrainian border. The government convened a national security council meeting.

We don’t know who launched the rocket. President Andrzej Duda told reporters it was likely a Russian-made missile.

Duda said it was probable Poland will request Article 4 consultations at Wednesday’s NATO conference. Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador, the foreign ministry said.

NATO and its allies, including the U.S., are probing Tuesday’s blast in Poland.

Many world leaders are attending the Group of 20 conference on Bali, Indonesia, and US President Joe Biden claimed he spoke with Duda.

White House: Biden reminded Duda Washington has a “ironclad commitment to NATO” and will back Poland’s inquiry.

Biden, Rishi Sunak, and Ursula von der Leyen discussed the situation and deaths early in the morning. Even though Japan isn’t a NATO member, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended.

The meeting began with the leaders seated around a table. Biden later told reporters the explosion may not have been caused by a Russian missile.

Preliminary data disagrees. It’s improbable based on the trajectory that it was shot from Russia, but we’ll see,” Biden added.

NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke with Duda and the alliance was monitoring the situation and discussing with allies.

Stoltenberg tweeted, “Important to establish all facts.”

If true, this would be the first time a Russian missile landed outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24. Tuesday’s reports sparked anxiety and requests to investigate.

Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull reported from Kyiv that the missiles may have missed, overshot, or were deflected by Ukrainian air defenses.

“But I believe we need to be extremely careful about speculating along those lines,” Hull said.

NATO won’t escalate, say analysts.

Samuel Ramani, an RUSI associate fellow in the UK, told Al Jazeera that Poland was reluctant to blame Russia directly and that the strike was unlikely to warrant an Article 5 reaction. Under Article 5, an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Russia’s defense ministry called the strike a “deliberate provocation”

Russian weapons didn’t strike targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border, it claimed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he knew nothing about the blast.

The strike occurred at 14:40 GMT on Tuesday, according to Poland’s foreign ministry.

The two victims were males who were near a grain facility’s weighing area, a resident told Reuters.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated foreign and security experts are in Przewodow and urged calm.

“Be cautious. “Don’t be fooled by bogus news,” he warned.

Europe was quick to condemn the blast, and many leaders blamed Russia.

Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks tweeted that Russia “launched missiles that targeted Ukrainian civilians and landed in Poland.”

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, called for a NATO meeting to issue a “strong” collective reaction to Russia and to equip Kyiv with modern weaponry and aircraft.

Kuleba tweeted, “Protecting Ukraine’s skies means protecting NATO.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “major escalation” without evidence.

Norwegian, Lithuanian, and Estonian officials are seeking more information.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt remarked, “This is a very severe situation, yet much remains unclear.”

White House National Security spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the Biden administration would “evaluate what happened and next steps.”

US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel termed the reports “very disturbing”

Tuesday’s blast came amid a wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine that Kyiv dubbed the deadliest in nine months of war.

Multiple cities, notably Lviv, on the Polish border, were bombed.

EU chief Charles Michel was “shocked” that a missile or other weapons killed civilians in Poland.

“We support Poland.” I’m in touch with Polish authorities, European Council members, and other allies,” he tweeted, adding that he’d propose a meeting with EU leaders at the G20 in Bali on Wednesday.

Spoke with President Duda @prezydentpl about the explosion in #Poland. I offered my condolences for the loss of life. #NATO is monitoring the situation and Allies are closely consulting. Important that all facts are established.

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) November 15, 2022

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I spoke with President Andrzej Duda of Poland 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.

We will remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as it proceeds. pic.twitter.com/m6OSwcHKtD

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 16, 2022

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