Poland missile likely stray Ukraine weaponry: NATO
NATO chief says missile that killed two villagers was likely Ukrainian weaponry fired to defend its territory against Russian cruise missile attacks.
NATO has said that Tuesday’s missile attack in eastern Poland, killing two people, was caused by Ukrainian defence weaponry which was fired to defend Ukrainian territory against a wave of Russian cruise missile attacks.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg revealed: “Preliminary analysis suggests the incident was caused by Ukrainian defence fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks’’.
He added: “This is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues illegal war against Ukraine.”
Mr Stoltenberg refused to reveal if there was a Russian missile in the immediate area, or whether the Ukraine defence missile exploded on the ground or in the air in contact with a Russian missile.
He defended NATO’s defence on the eastern flank in Poland, explaining that the missile was not shot down by NATO systems because the attacking cruise missiles “have special characteristics” and that while the missile was followed and monitored it was assessed as not having the characteristics of an attack.
“That explains why the actions were as they were,’’ Mr Stoltenberg said.
The revelations are at odds with earlier denials from the Ukrainian leadership, including president Volodymyr Zelensky that the explosion in a rural Polish border town was a Russian attack requiring urgent action from the western NATO alliance.
Mr Stoltenberg said that NATO had increased vigilance across the eastern flank of the alliance.
He said: “There was no indication that this was result of a deliberate attack. There is no indication Russia is preparing offensive military actions against NATO.”
He said the results of the investigations would impact on the consequences about which action to take but he repeated that Russia is not planning an attack on NATO.
Mr Stoltenberg said NATO offered its deepest condolences on the tragic loss of life and reaffirmed solidarity with Poland, one of its member states.
He said the alliance would continue to support Ukraine in their right to self defence, adding
“Russia must stop this senseless war”.
He said Poland and the United States leaders had agreed to stay vigilant, calm and closely co-ordinated and monitor the situation carefully.
Mr Stoltenberg said the incident demonstrated how the war in Ukraine is president Putin’s responsibility and that it continued to create dangerous situations.
He said: “Remember this happened at the same time as Russia launched a wave of indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities attacking critical infrastructure and hitting civilian targets. That in itself is a very dangerous situation, there may be consequences on NATO territory as ra esult of Russian waging against Ukraine.”
He said Ukraine had the right to shoot down missiles that are targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
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