Two people died in an explosion on Tuesday in Poland, near the border with Ukraine. All eyes quickly turned to Russia, raising fears of a major escalation in the conflict. But in the last hours the hypothesis has arisen that the projectile came from the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, which has lowered international tension. Back to this day.
15:40 a missile falls in Poland
At 3:40 p.m. this Tuesday, a missile fell on the Polish town of Przewodow, in the southeast of the country, near the border with Ukraine, reports the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It lands in an area “where grain was drying” and kills two people, according to the Polish presidency.
The incident coincides with massive Russian attacks in Ukraine, which hit energy infrastructure and several cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv, on Tuesday.
20:00 The Pentagon says it is investigating the situation.
US Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder begins a press conference announcing that the Pentagon is “reviewing” press reports that two Russian missiles “hit a location in Poland near the ‘Ukrainian border’ ‘”.
The US news agency AP had previously reported that, according to a senior US intelligence official, “Russian missiles” had killed two people in Poland. “We have no information at this time to confirm this information and we are looking into it further,” the spokesperson explains.
20:50 Moscow calls the information “provocations”
In a message on Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry considers that “the statements by the Polish media and officials about the alleged drop of ‘Russian’ missiles” are “a deliberate provocation aimed at aggravating the situation.” The ministry adds that there were “no attacks on targets near the border between Ukraine and the Polish state with Russian weapons.”
21:50 NATO, in turn, “examines” the situation
A NATO official told AFP on condition of anonymity: “We are examining this information and we are in close coordination with Poland, our ally.” Poland is a member of the military alliance.
However, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which founded NATO, states that if a member country of the alliance is the victim of an armed attack, “each member of the Alliance shall consider this act of violence as an armed attack directed against all members and will take the measures it deems necessary to come to the aid of the attacked country”, explains NATO on its site.
22:00 Zelensky accuses Russia, France says to “watch very closely” the situation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russia of being behind the attack on Poland. “Today Russian missiles hit Poland, the territory of an allied country. People were killed,” he said in an address to the nation. “This is a very important escalation. We must act,” added the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky also calls the Polish president to offer his condolences for the “victims of Russian missile terror.”
On the French side, the Élysée indicates that Emmanuel Macron has “contacted the Polish authorities” and “explores the possibility of a discussion tomorrow morning at the level of the leaders” to “analyze the risks” and “prevent an escalation of the conflict “. “, while many leaders are at the G20 summit in Indonesia, where the President of the Republic is also present.
In the National Assembly, the Secretary of State in charge of Citizenship, Sonia Backès, declared that “the government is closely monitoring the situation on the ground together with our Polish allies”.
“In any case, Poland can count on the solidarity of France and we will keep you informed as we receive information,” he adds.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Poland raises the alert level of some military units
Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller speaks after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. He announces that the country will “raise the alert level of certain combat units and other uniformed personnel.”
12:30 Polish Foreign Minister summons Russian Ambassador
In a statement, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that it has summoned the Russian ambassador to Poland and “demanded an immediate and detailed explanation” after a “Russian-made missile” hit Polish territory.
00:40. The Polish president calls for calm and encouragement
The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said at a press conference that there is, at this moment, “equivocal evidence” about the author of the murderous missile shot, “most probably Russian-made” according to him, and calls for “calm”. “There is an ongoing investigation,” he added, saying there was no indication that similar incidents would follow.
Shortly before 2 am G7 leaders hold emergency meeting
The heads of state or government of the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and Japan meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, in the presence of Spanish, Dutch and European Union leaders. They do not speak to the press present for the start of the meeting, which continues behind closed doors.
3:00 am Joe Biden considers it ‘improbable’ that the missile was launched from Russia
US President Joe Biden says it is “unlikely” that the missile that hit Poland was fired from Russia during a press address on the sidelines of the G20 in Indonesia. “I’ll make sure we can determine exactly what happened,” he added.
3:30. UN calls to ‘avoid escalation’
It is “absolutely essential to prevent the escalation of the war in Ukraine,” urges United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said he was “very concerned” about the information about the incident in Poland.
In a brief statement sent by his spokesman, Guterres calls for a “thorough investigation” into the facts.
4:30. The Elysee calls for caution
“Given what is at stake, it is logical that we approach the issue with the greatest caution,” stressed the French presidency on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, recalling that “the risks of escalation are significant.”
“There is a lot of equipment in the region, a lot of weapons concentration. Many countries have the same type of weapons and therefore identifying the type of missile is not necessarily identifying the actor that launched it,” explains an adviser to the president. Emmanuel Macron.
“If it was a Ukrainian missile…it would not be politically the same by nature (as a Russian shot, editor’s note) because we didn’t imagine that Ukraine would intentionally fire at Poland,” another presidential aide told reporters.
In the morning. US sources evoke a shooting in Ukraine
US sources told the Associated Press that the missile was fired by Ukraine. The agency reports that, according to senior US officials, “initial findings suggest that the missile that struck Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an oncoming Russian missile.”
10 am Belgium in turn mentions a Ukrainian origin, Macron remains in reserve
An emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors is held in Brussels, at the Alliance headquarters. It relates to the missile that fell on Poland and was announced on Tuesday night.
At the same time, the Belgian Defense Minister, Ludivine Dedonder, affirms that the explosion would be “the result of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense systems, used to counteract Russian missiles.”
For his part, Emmanuel Macron remains on the reserve. From Bali, he says that “the first works have been shared by the United States but we have to be very careful.” “Circumstances do not allow these shots to be attributed” at the present time, he underlines.
11 a.m. Kremlin praises US “restraint” over incident
The Kremlin assures once again that it is not responsible for the missile that fell in Poland the day before and underlines the “restraint” of the United States in this regard.
“In this case, we must point out the measured and more professional reaction of the American side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, denouncing the “hysteria” of “senior officials from various countries.”
“Russia has nothing to do with the incident that happened in Poland,” he adds.
13:00 Poland and NATO evoke an accident originating from the Ukrainian defense
“There are no indications that it was an intentional attack against Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters.
“There is a high probability that it is a missile that was simply used by the Ukrainian missile defense,” he continues.
It is “probably an unfortunate accident, unfortunately,” according to the president. “There are no indications of a deliberate attack” in Poland, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after the emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors on the incident.
It also lists “a Ukrainian air defense system missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missiles” as a “probable” cause of the explosion.
“Let’s be clear. It’s not Ukraine’s fault,” said the head of the Atlantic Alliance, of which Poland is a member.
“Russia bears the ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine. Russia must put an end to this senseless war, ”she insists, reiterating NATO’s support for Kyiv in its“ right to self-defense ”and its full solidarity with Poland.
1:30 in the afternoon. Ukraine requests access to site in Poland
Ukraine calls for “immediate access” to the site in Poland where a missile struck the previous day. “We are ready to provide proof of the Russian trail we have,” Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiï Danilov said on Twitter.
It adds that Kyiv “awaits information from our partners, from which they concluded that it was a Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense missile” and requests “a joint examination of the incident.”
In the afternoon. Zelensky maintains that the missile ‘was not’ in Ukraine
I have no doubt that this missile was not ours,” Volodymyr Zelensky told television. “I think it was a Russian missile, according to the ‘Ukrainian’ army report,” he adds.
It also claims that it has not received evidence from the West on the hypothesis of a Ukrainian projectile fired to shoot down Russian cruise missiles, launched against Ukrainian territory during a massive attack.
18:45 Washington credits the thesis of a Ukrainian defense missile
The White House has not “seen anything that contradicts” the hypothesis, advanced by Warsaw, according to which the missile that fell in Poland came “in all probability” from the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, estimates a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Adriana Watson. .
“That said, regardless of the final conclusions, it is clear that Russia is ultimately responsible for this tragic incident” due to its attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, it added in a press release, stating: “Ukraine had and has the right to fend”.
Source: BFM TV
