The Polish army is today on high alert after a missile, possibly of Russian manufacture, the origin of which remains unknown, fell in a village in the south-eastern part of the country, near the border with Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda underlined yesterday, Tuesday, that at this stage there is no "unshakable evidence" about the origin of the missile, which according to him is "very likely of Russian manufacture". "An investigation is underway," Duda added, explaining that this is an isolated incident.
In the village of Sevontov, the forces of order have blocked access to the place where the rocket fell.
The West offered prudent support to Poland, with US President Joe Biden calling it "unlikely (…) that (the missile) was launched from Russia".
"I want to make sure we can determine exactly what happened," before reacting, he said after an emergency meeting of G7 leaders (US, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan) in Indonesia on the sidelines of the G20 summit .
And France called for "maximum prudence" to be shown, as "many countries" in the region have these types of missiles, as the French presidency announced, warning of "the significant risk of escalation".
The rocket fell in the early afternoon in the village of Sevodov, killing two Poles, according to authorities. Kyiv initially announced that it was a "Russian-made missile".
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is expected to hold an "emergency meeting" with the Alliance's ambassadors today, according to his spokeswoman.
Poland, which borders Ukraine, is a NATO member and about 10.000 US troops are stationed in the country.
It is "absolutely important to avoid an escalation of the war in Ukraine", underlined UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for a "thorough investigation" into the incident.
"Deliberate provocation," according to Moscow
The White House announced that Biden spoke with his Polish counterpart and Stoltenberg. The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had a conversation with his Polish counterpart Zbiniu Rau and Ukrainian Dmytro Kuleba.
"We are committed to remain in close cooperation in the coming days as the investigation progresses and we determine the appropriate next steps," Blinken tweeted from Bali.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his "condolences for the death of Polish citizens, victims of the terror of Russian missiles".
"Ukraine, Poland, all of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia," he underlined.
Kuleba, for his part, described as "conspiracy theories" the claims, posted on the Internet, according to which the missile that fell on Polish territory might be Ukrainian.
Moscow called the accusations of Russian strikes on Polish soil "provocations".
"The claims of the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of Russian missiles near the village of Sevodov are a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation," the Russian Defense Ministry responded on Telegram.
"No strikes were fired at targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border" by the Russian military, the ministry said.
"Keep Calm"
During the night Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki asked "all Poles to keep calm in the face of this tragedy".
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's spokesman pointed out that the country's Defense Council met in the evening.
Article 5 of NATO provides that if a member state is the victim of an attack, the others will regard this action as an attack against the entire Alliance and will take such measures as they deem necessary to assist the country attacked.
If it is confirmed that the blow in Poland came from Russia, it will be a serious escalation of the war in Ukraine.
Source: RES-EAP