Missile involved in Polish incident appears Russian made, but originates from Ukraine, believes U.S.
Police and Media arrived at the scene of the incident (Photo:REUTERS/Kacper Pempel)
The missile that crashed in Poland on Nov. 15 was fired from Ukraine but made in Russia, CNN reported on Nov. 16, citing two U.S. officials familiar with initial U.S. assessments of the incident.
These assessments were discussed at an emergency meeting called by U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, the officials said. They will also be a topic of conversation at a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council declined to comment on reports that the Russian-made missile had been fired by Ukrainian forces trying to intercept the Russian attack.
"We have no comment and will not be confirming this report,” he said.
“As the President said today, we support Poland's ongoing investigation to figure out exactly what happened.”
According to the Reuters news agency, President Biden said that the fall of the missile in eastern Poland was the result of the work of Ukrainian air defense, which was repelling Russian air strikes.
On Nov. 15, Russia mounted a new massive missile attack against Ukraine on the first day of the G20 summit, which resulted in a missile striking and killing two Polish citizens in Poland, near the Ukrainian border.
After that, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Affairs committee.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Warsaw was holding a series of international consultations, and NATO forces were in a state of combat readiness.
In turn, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte noted that the tragedy "would not have happened without Russia’s horrific missile attacks against Ukraine."
Over 100 missiles were fired at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. More than half of them were intercepted by air defense forces, but the country's energy system was severely damaged.
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