Two people died in an explosion in Poland. The site of the detonation is near the border with Ukraine. There are reports that the explosion was triggered by a Russian-made rocket.
The situation is particularly delicate because Poland is a NATO member – and since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine the alliance has repeatedly emphasized that it wants to defend “every centimeter” of alliance territory.
But there are contradictory statements, the situation was initially confusing. What is known and what is not?
what we know
There has been at least one explosion in the village of Przewodów. According to the Polish government, it happened at 3:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday. It could therefore be heard within a radius of about 15 kilometers.
Przewodów is located in eastern Poland, a good six kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The detonation took place on an agricultural site. A farmer who weighed corn and an employee of this same agricultural company died.
A photo shows a tractor with an overturned trailer. There is a crater under the pendant. Behind the trailer is yellow bulk material that could be corn.
At the scene of the accident, to which at least two ambulances were sent, Polish investigators were writes the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.
In Poland, the National Security Council first held an emergency meeting, followed by the government. In response to the incident, the country has put part of its armed forces on increased alert.
The Polish Foreign Ministry reported that the explosion was triggered by a Russian-made rocket. First of all, this information could not be independently verified.
The town of Przewodów is located in eastern Poland, a good six kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
(Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images)
After midnight, it also became known: Due to the incident, NATO is meeting for an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previously tweeted that he had spoken to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda. It is important that “all the facts” are determined.
Late in the evening, US President Joe Biden also spoke to Duda on the phone, the White House announced. Nothing was initially said about the content of the conversation. Duda later said there was still no evidence who fired the Russian-made missile. “We know that there has been a Russian missile attack on Ukraine practically all day, but we currently have no clear evidence as to who fired the missile. Investigations are ongoing,” said Duda.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) refrained from making accusations, but wrote on Twitter: “My thoughts are with Poland, our close ally and neighbour. We are closely monitoring the situation and are in touch with our Polish friends and NATO allies. “
What we don’t know
Could the suspected Russian missile have been deflected? Did the rocket hit the whole thing or was it debris? An independent review was still pending overnight.
The number of floors was not clear after the first reports. A local radio station initially reported that two stray Russian rockets had landed in the area. A little later, the AP news agency quoted an unnamed representative from US intelligence circles, who also spoke of Russian missiles as the cause of the explosion.
But officially held the USA return. Poland will ensure “that we find out exactly what happened,” said the US President Joe Biden on the edge of the G20 summit in Bali. “And then together we will determine our next step in the investigation and how to proceed.” According to Bidens, initial investigations indicate that the explosion in Poland was not caused by a missile launched from Russia: “There is preliminary information that disputes that. I don’t want to say that until we have fully investigated it, but given given the trajectory it’s unlikely it was fired by Russia, but we’ll see.”
The US President made a brief statement after the emergency meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP)
More international reactions
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said quite early in the evening that it was Russian missiles that hit Poland. Ukraine had long warned that Russian actions would not be limited to Ukraine. The Russian missile attack on NATO territory means a serious escalation of the situation. There must be a reaction to that: “There is a need for action.”
Out of Moscow came a sharp denial. The Russian Defense Ministry described the reports as deliberate provocations. The Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying that these had the aim of escalating the situation. There were no attacks with Russian weapons on targets near the Polish-Hungarian border.
Much is still speculative
Even if the reason for the explosion was one or more rockets, it is still unknown why they hit the Polish town. It is clear that Russia has fired dozens of rockets at Ukraine and has also attacked targets in the west of the country, including in the Lviv region. The city is about 70 kilometers as the crow flies from the site of the explosion in Poland.
Of the Gazeta Wyborcza A missile said to have been fired by Russia was hit by Ukrainian air defenses. After that, it changed its trajectory and landed in Polish territory.
Another suggestion was that at least fragments of the debris found in Poland could have come from missiles that Ukraine had in its anti-aircraft system S-300 uses. Accordingly, the parts in Poland could have fallen to earth because Ukraine tried to intercept Russian missiles with the system. However, there was initially no evidence of this.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba defended himself against this theory – and accused Moscow of spreading false information. “Russia is now spreading a conspiracy theory that a Ukrainian air defense missile is allegedly based on Polish territory. This is not true. No one should believe Russian propaganda or amplify their messages, he tweeted.