Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations said the country acted with “total restraint” after a suspected Russian-made missile landed inside its borders on Tuesday, killing two Polish citizens and stoking fears of an escalation in the war. of Russia against Ukraine.
Speaking at the UN Security Council on Wednesday (16), Krzysztof Szczerski said Poland immediately launched an “extensive multi-phase investigation” into the incident, which Warsaw, the Polish capital, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said it was likely caused by a missile fired by Ukrainian forces defending their country against Russian attacks.
“Poland is also conducting intensive consultations on the incident with its allies and key NATO partners,” he said, noting that the incident prompted the country to increase the combat readiness of an armed forces unit focused on monitoring airspace.
Two farmers were killed when the missile caused an explosion outside the rural village of Przewodow in eastern Poland, about 4 miles west of the Ukrainian border.
Tuesday’s incident marks the first time a NATO country has been directly hit during the nearly nine-month conflict, and prompted an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the US-led military alliance in Brussels on Wednesday.
Szczerski said the incident “teaches us how close we really are to the potential escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and far-reaching consequences that we can all perceive.”
He added that the two Polish victims “would not have been killed if there had not been a Russian war against Ukraine”.
“Their only flaw was that they live close to civilian infrastructure on the Ukrainian side of the border that Russia continues to attack as a military target,” he said.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Russia bears “ultimate responsibility” for the incident, “as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine”.
The blast came at about the same time as Russia launched the biggest wave of missile strikes against Ukrainian cities in more than a month, predominantly targeting energy infrastructure.
The Polish ambassador repeated his country’s initial assessment that the incident appears to have been unintentional.
“Initial findings support the hypothesis that the event was not a deliberate attack. But, naturally, we need to wait for the final conclusion until the investigation is over,” Szczerski told the UN Security Council.
Investigations at the missile site will remain a joint operation with the United States, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked that Ukrainian experts be allowed to enter the site.
The US National Security Council has said it has “full confidence” in the Polish investigation into the explosion and that the “ultimate responsible party” for the incident is Russia for its ongoing invasion.
Source: CNN Brasil
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