Missile explosion in Poland: Who launched it and what the consequences – What we know so far

A rocket explosion killed two people yesterday in the Polish village of Sevodow, near the Ukrainian border, on a day when Ukraine was heavily shelled by the Russian military. After hours of doubts and questions about the origin of the missile, with the risk of escalation loomingWarsaw estimated today at noon that it is “very likely” that it was a “sad accident” caused by a Ukrainian missile.

The Athenian-Macedonian News Agency proceeds with a summary of what has become known until noon on Wednesday.

The explosion in the village of Shevodov after the rocket launch

A rocket hit the village of Sewodów in southeastern Poland, about 6 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, yesterday evening, killing two men. News website Gazeta.pl reported that the explosion occurred around 18:00 Greek time at a grain drying facility located near a school.

The blow happened as Russia carried out massive missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure throughout yesterday, which left millions of homes without power. Russian missiles hit cities across the country, including Lviv (west), near the Polish border.

Poland, which borders Ukraine, is a NATO member and about 10,000 US troops are stationed in the country.

Who launched the rocket?

THE Russiawhich invaded Ukraine on February 24, she was immediately considered suspicious. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda said overnight that dThere is no conclusive evidence as to who launched the missilewhich was “probably Russian-made,” speaking of an “isolated” incident.

Early this afternoon, Duda stressed that it was “very likely” that the strike came from Ukrainian missile defenses, a “sad accident” according to him. “Nothing shows that it was a deliberate attack against Poland,” the Polish president added to reporters.

Same appreciation from NATO, which has “no evidence” to attribute the deadly explosion in Poland to “a deliberate attack” against the country, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Jens Stoltenberg, said today at noon.

“According to our preliminary analysis, the incident was most likely caused by a missile of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft system that was fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missiles,” Stoltenberg added.

Official statements about the missile that fell in Poland

“Let’s be clear. It’s not Ukraine’s faultsaid NATO chief Stoltenberg. “Russia bears the ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine. Russia must end this senseless war,” he said, reiterating NATO’s support for Kyiv in its “right to self-defense” and its full solidarity with Poland.

Before the last statements of Duda, the Ukrainian president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called the missile attack “Russia’s message to the G20 summit” underway in Indonesia.

Russia said it had “nothing to do” with the incident, asserting today that the missile was “undoubtedly” fired by an S-300 defense system of Ukrainian forces. “High-precision strikes were carried out only on the territory of Ukraine at a distance of more than 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Polish border,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The debris found in Poland “has been categorically identified by Russian experts (…) as a component of an anti-aircraft guided missile of the S-300 air defense systems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he added.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedode said in a statement that the explosion in Poland was the result of the use of Ukrainian air defense systems to “counter Russian missiles”, “Investigations are ongoing, at the moment there is nothing to indicate that it was intentional attack”, the minister added.

The leaders of the G7 major powers (US, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Canada, Japan) had previously held an emergency meeting on the issue on the sidelines of the G20. They expressed their solidarity with Poland, but also asked for caution pending the outcome of the investigation.