Poland called emergency meetings with its NATO allies after an explosion killed two people near the border with Ukraine on Tuesday in what an unnamed U.S. official told The Associated Press was a Russian missile crossing Polish territory.
A second person confirmed to The Associated Press that apparent Russian missiles hit a site in Poland about 15 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the missile attack, but told reporters that an explosion had killed two Polish citizens.
Poland’s top leaders were holding an emergency meeting because of the “crisis situation” and the country was preparing military units, Mueller said.
Polish media reported that two people were killed late Tuesday after a projectile hit an area where grain was being dried in Przewodow, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
The United States and Western allies said they were investigating but could not confirm the report that the explosion was the result of stray Russian missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied this.
Poland considering Article 4
Poland is checking whether to request consultations under Article 4 of the NATO military alliance treaty, Mueller said.
Article 4 allows NATO members to bring any matter of concern, particularly security-related, to the North Atlantic Council for discussion.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, without providing evidence, that Russian missiles had hit Poland, in what he said was a “major escalation” of the conflict.
“The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be to anyone within range of Russian missiles. Launch missiles against NATO territory! This is a Russian missile attack on collective security! This is a very important escalation. We must act.” Zelensky said.
National Defense Minister Anita Anand said she was in close contact with Poland and the Canadian government is monitoring the situation closely.
The incident could also raise questions about the use of NATO’s Article 5, under which an attack on one member of the alliance is considered an attack on all of them. And he asks the members of the alliance to help the attacked country by taking “the measures they consider necessary, including the use of armed force.”
However, each country is under no obligation to respond militarily.
Russia denies responsibility
In Washington, the Pentagon, the White House and the US State Department said they could not corroborate the report and were working with the Polish government to gather more information. The State Department said the report was “incredibly troubling.”
Germany said it was monitoring the situation and Norway said it was looking for details.
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that Russian missiles had reached Polish territory, calling the reports “a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation.”
He added in a statement: “There was no attack on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border with Russian means of destruction.”
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia was pounding Ukrainian cities with missiles on Tuesday, in attacks that Kyiv said were the most intense wave of missiles in nearly nine months of war. Some reached Lviv, which is less than 80 kilometers from the border with Poland.