Two people were killed after stray Russian missiles accidentally hit a small Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
The tragedy came as Russia bombarded Ukraine with more than 100 rockets yesterday in a new attack.
According to AP, two of those rockets landed on a farm near the city of Przewodow, north of Lviv, which is Ukraine’s westernmost city and likely the intended target.
The news was confirmed by an unnamed senior US intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the volatility of the situation.
The grain dryers were hit by the missiles, and emergency services immediately went to the scene, leaving the Polish Armed Forces on “high alert” and military aircraft hastily assembled in response.
Since then, Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller has confirmed that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has convened the Cabinet Committee on National Security and Defense Affairs “as a matter of urgency” following the attack, which will begin in the early hours of Wednesday morning Australian time. .
The situation has caused widespread panic and speculation about possible retaliation, given that Poland is a member of NATO.
Under the provisions of NATO Article 5, an attack against a NATO member is considered an attack against all allies and may trigger a coordinated response by all states.
Nearby Moldova is also understood to have been hit by the Russian missile barrage, with major power cuts affecting the nation after a major power line was destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also spoken out following the Russian bombing, revealing that most of the rockets had targeted the country’s “energy infrastructure”.
“We are working, we will restore everything. We will survive everything,” he said.
So far, global reactions to the strike have been limited, although CNN reports that US Department of Defense press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the U.S. “was aware of press reports alleging that two Russian missiles have struck a location inside Poland near the border with Ukraine,” while the Department insisted that the US will “defend every inch of NATO territory”.
Nearby Estonia, which was once part of the Soviet Union and has a strained relationship with Russia, has publicly expressed its support for Poland.
“The latest news from Poland is the most worrying. We are consulting closely with Poland and other allies. Estonia is ready to defend every inch of NATO territory,” Estonia’s Foreign Ministry tweeted.
“We are in full solidarity with our next ally Poland.”
More to come