Large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remain under Russian control, and fighting continues.Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out in the face of a Ukrainian offensive.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador and “demanded immediate detailed explanations,” the government said.If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, it would risk drawing the 30-nation alliance into the conflict at a time when it is already struggling to fend off Ukrainian forces.
In their statements, Poland and NATO used language that suggested they were not treating the missile blast as an intentional Russian attack, at least for now. A NATO statement called it a “tragic incident.”Poland’s statement did not address whether the strike could have been a targeting error or if the missile could have been knocked off course by Ukrainian defenses.
The UN Security Council planned to meet Wednesday for a previously scheduled briefing on the situation in Ukraine.President Andrzej Duda was more cautious, saying that it was “most probably” Russian-made but that its origins were still being verified. “We are acting with calm,” Duda said. “This is a difficult situation.”
Poland said early Wednesday that a Russian-made missile fell in the country’s east, killing two people, though U.S. President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” it was fired from Russia. The blast, which Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy decried as “a very significant escalation,” prompted Biden to call an emergency meeting of G-7 and NATO leaders. A deliberate, hostile attack on NATO member Poland could trigger a collective military response by the alliance.
But key questions around the circumstances of the missile launch remained amid the confusion caused by a blistering series of Russian airstrikes across the nearby border in Ukraine, none larger than who fired it. Russia denied any involvement in the Poland blast.
Three US officials said preliminary assessments suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one amid the crushing salvo against Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. That assessment and Biden’s comments at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia contradict information earlier Tuesday from a senior U.S. intelligence official who told the AP that Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
The chancellor has just telephoned Polish President Duda and expressed his condolences… Germany stands closely by the side of our NATO partner Poland,” Scholz’s spokesman tweeted.The safe-haven U.S. dollar firmed in volatile trading on Wednesday as markets took stock of geopolitical risks following news of a Russian-made rocket striking NATO-member Poland. Russia denied it was responsible for the explosion but the report sparked turbulent trading overnight as fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over to its neighbors rattled investors.
