Where did the missile that fell in Poland come from? In the answer to this question resided, this Wednesday, all the fear of an escalation in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. But this incident which left two dead would be very accidental.
On Tuesday, this missile killed two men in Przewodow about six kilometers from the Ukrainian border, hitting an agricultural building on Tuesday, leaving Poland in shock and its army on heightened alert.
Russia quickly denied being at the origin of the shooting and Warsaw itself judged “highly probable” that it was a Ukrainian anti-aircraft projectile, citing “an unfortunate accident”.
A position supported by NATO which ensures through the voice of its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, that there is to date “no indication of a deliberate attack” in Poland. “Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense system missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missiles,” the official told a press conference at Brussels.
“It’s not Ukraine’s fault”
Should we point out the role of kyiv? ” Let’s be clear. It’s not Ukraine’s fault,” swept away the head of NATO. “Russia bears the ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine. Russia must end this senseless war,” he insisted, reiterating NATO’s support for kyiv in its “right to self-defense” and its full solidarity with Poland.
Ukraine, for its part, demanded “immediate access” to the landing point of the missile in Poland. “We are ready to provide proof of the Russian trace that we have,” said the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksii Danilov. The latter did not find support from Washington: from Bali (Indonesia) where the G20 was meeting at the summit, American President Joe Biden had also very early considered “improbable” that the missile was fired by Russia.
“I will make sure that we can determine what exactly happened” before deciding on a reaction, he said after an emergency meeting Wednesday of the leaders of the major powers of the G7 (United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan), in Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20. Moscow praised Washington’s “restraint” while Emmanuel Macron also took the floor to underline the “extreme sensitivity of the situation” in Ukraine.
The fear of escalation
The explosion on Tuesday night raised fears that NATO, which Poland joined in 1999, could be drawn into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Poland is protected by NATO’s collective defense commitment, formalized in article 5 of its founding treaty, but the reaction of the Atlantic Alliance must be calibrated according to the accidental nature – as now mentioned by Warsaw – or intentional of the incident.
An emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors was held on Wednesday morning to take stock of the situation in Poland. The latter placed its armed forces on heightened alert following the explosion. She also summoned the Russian ambassador for “immediate detailed explanations”, before the Polish head of state spoke of a projectile probably fired by the Ukrainian defense. In response, Moscow announced on Wednesday afternoon the summons of the Polish ambassador to Russia.