Ukrainian investigators to join probe into missile blast in Poland, says Zelenskyy
Part of the rocket that fell on the territory of Poland during the massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine (Photo:Reuters)
Ukrainian investigators are going to Poland to join a probe into the Nov. 15 missile strike that killed two Polish citizens near the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Nov. 17.
Zelenskyy said his military officials had told him that images of the crater at the blast site suggested it couldn’t have been caused solely by the remnants of a Ukrainian anti-air missile.
He said he “was sure that it was a Russian missile” but also that he was certain Ukraine had launched weapons to defend against a Russian barrage.
“I don’t know 100% – I think the world also doesn’t 100% know what happened,” he said.
“We can’t say specifically that this was the air defense of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also emphasized that Ukraine was fighting against Russian missiles on its own territory.
On Nov. 15, Russia launched the most massive missile and drone strike since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In total, over 90 missiles were launched, of which 77 were reportedly downed by Ukraine’s Air Defense Forces.
Energy infrastructure facilities in the northern, central and western parts of the country were affected in the aftermath of the mass strike.
Meanwhile, one person was killed in Kyiv when an unintercepted missile struck a number of residential buildings.
On the same day, two missiles reportedly fell in Poland’s Przewodow, Lublin district, approximately 20 km from the Ukrainian border. Two people were killed in the incident.
The Polish government officially blamed Russia for the incident, though anonymous U.S. sources noted that the missile might also have been a Ukrainian air defense munition that missed its interception target.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Nov. 16 that a fallen missile that struck a village in Poland was likely a Ukrainian air defense munition – but Russia bears ultimate responsibility.
It has been established that the missile was Russian-made, though it was likely a Ukrainian munition, according to U.S. intelligence assessments, the Associated Press reported, citing anonymous U.S. defense officials.
Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, on Nov. 16 requested immediate access to the site of a missile strike in Poland. He said Ukraine is ready to hand over evidence that the strike was caused by a Russian munition – not a Ukrainian one.
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