NATO member Poland and the head of the military alliance both said Wednesday a missile strike in Polish farmland that killed two people did not appear to be an intentional attack, and that air defenses in neighboring Ukraine likely launched the Soviet-era projectile against a Russian bombardment that savaged the Ukrainian power grid.
B次元官网网址淯kraineB次元官网网址檚 defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory,B次元官网网址� said Polish President Andrzej Duda. B次元官网网址淭here is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.B次元官网网址�
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at alliance in Brussels, echoed the preliminary Polish findings, saying: B次元官网网址淲e have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack.B次元官网网址�
The initial assessments of TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 deadly missile landing appeared to dial back the likelihood of the strike triggering another major escalation in the nearly . If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, that could have risked drawing NATO into the conflict.
Still, Stoltenberg and others laid overall but not specific blame on Russian President Vladimir PutinB次元官网网址檚 war.
B次元官网网址淭his is not UkraineB次元官网网址檚 fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility,B次元官网网址� Stoltenberg said.
Before the Polish and NATO assessments, U.S. President Joe Biden had said it was B次元官网网址渦nlikelyB次元官网网址� that Russia fired the missile but added: B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 going to make sure we find out exactly what happened.B次元官网网址�
Three U.S. officials said preliminary assessments suggested it was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werenB次元官网网址檛 authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
That assessment and BidenB次元官网网址檚 comments at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia contradicted information earlier Tuesday from a senior U.S. intelligence official who told The Associated Press that Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union, fields Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defense missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the KremlinB次元官网网址檚 invasion forces.
Ukrainian air defenses worked furiously against the Russian assault Tuesday on power generation and transmission facilities, including in UkraineB次元官网网址檚 western region that borders Poland. UkraineB次元官网网址檚 military said 77 of the more than 90 missiles fired were brought down, along with 11 drones.
Russia said it didnB次元官网网址檛 launch the missile that landed in Poland. A Defense Ministry spokesman said no Russian strike Tuesday was closer than 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the Ukraine-Poland border. The Kremlin denounced PolandB次元官网网址檚 and other countriesB次元官网网址� initial response and, in rare praise for a U.S. leader, hailed BidenB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渞estrained, much more professional reaction.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e have witnessed another hysterical, frenzied, Russo-phobic reaction that was not based on any real data,B次元官网网址� Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Still, Ukraine was under countrywide Russian bombardment Tuesday by barrages of cruise missiles and exploding drones, which clouded the initial picture of what exactly happened in Poland and why.
The Polish president said the projectile was B次元官网网址渕ost probablyB次元官网网址� a Russian-made S-300 missile dating from the Soviet era.
B次元官网网址淚t was a huge blast, the sound was terrifying.B次元官网网址� said Ewa Byra, the primary school director in the eastern village of Przewodow, where the missile struck. She said she knew both men who were killed B次元官网网址� one was the husband of a school employee, the other the father of a former pupil.
Another resident, 24-year-old Kinga Kancir, said the men worked at a grain-drying facility, one as a guard, the other driving tractors.
B次元官网网址淚t is very hard to accept,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淣othing was going on and, all of a sudden, there is a world sensation.B次元官网网址�
Ukraine said it wants immediate access to the site. Oleksiy Danilov, head of UkraineB次元官网网址檚 National Security and Defense Council, advocated on Twitter for a B次元官网网址渏oint examination of the incident.B次元官网网址�
In Europe, NATO members Germany and the U.K. laced calls for a through investigation with criticism of Moscow.
B次元官网网址淭his wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have happened without the Russian war against Ukraine, without the missiles that are now being fired at Ukrainian infrastructure intensively and on a large scale,B次元官网网址� said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: B次元官网网址淭his is the cruel and unrelenting reality of PutinB次元官网网址檚 war.B次元官网网址�
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it B次元官网网址渁 very significant escalation.B次元官网网址� On the other end of the spectrum, China called for calm and restraint.
Damage in Ukraine from the aerial assault was extensive and swaths of the country were without power. Zelenskyy said about 10 million people lost electricity but tweeted overnight that 8 million were subsequently reconnected, with repair crews laboring through the night. Previous Russian strikes had already destroyed an estimated 40% of the countryB次元官网网址檚 energy infrastructure.
Ukraine said the bombardment was the largest on its power grid so far. Pope Francis said it caused him B次元官网网址済reat pain and concern.B次元官网网址�
A Washington-based think thank, the Institute for the Study of War, said UkraineB次元官网网址檚 downing of so many Russian missiles Tuesday B次元官网网址渋llustrates the improvement in Ukrainian air defenses in the last month,B次元官网网址� which are being bolstered with Western-supplied systems. Sweden said Wednesday an air defense system with ammunition would form part of its latest and largest package of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, worth $360 million.
The U.S. has been UkraineB次元官网网址檚 largest supporter, providing $18.6 billion in weapons and equipment. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said flows of U.S. weapons and assistance would continue B次元官网网址渢hroughout the winter so that Ukraine can continue to consolidate gains and seize the initiative on the battlefield.B次元官网网址�
Russian attacks Tuesday killed at least six civilians and wounded another 17, said a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. In the Kyiv region, a missile strike killed a 69-year-old woman visiting her husbandB次元官网网址檚 grave at a cemetery, the regional police chief said. In central Kyiv, a woman was killed in one of two residential buildings that were damaged, the mayor said.
The Russian bombardment followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes B次元官网网址� the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
It also . It reported massive power outages after the strikes in Ukraine disconnected a power line to the small nation.
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting UkraineB次元官网网址檚 power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
B次元官网网址擵asilisa Stepanenko, The Associated Press
