Two killed as Russian missiles fall on Poland; Russian envoy summoned as NATO calls emergency meet
New Delhi, Nov 16: Two missiles landed in the territory of Poland on Tuesday, Sputnik news agency reported citing Polish media.
The Russian news agency said two rockets fell in the populated area of Przewodow in the Lublin Voivodeship on the border with Ukraine. Two people were killed in the incident, the police and the army are working on the scene of the incident, it added.
Warsaw said it did not have conclusive evidence of who fired it, adding that Moscow’s ambassador has been summoned to provide “immediate detailed explanations”.
Poland put its military on heightened alert after an emergency national security council meeting.
“There has been a decision to raise the state of readiness of some combat units and other uniformed services,” spokesman Piotr Muller told reporters after the meeting in Warsaw, adding that “our services are on the ground at the moment working out what happened.
Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened a meeting of the Security Council Committee of the Council of Ministers after reports of missiles falling on the territory of the country.
“The Prime Minister @MorawieckiM called as a matter of urgency the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs,” government spokesperson Piotr Muller tweeted.
In a statement, Polish foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina has it has demanded “immediate detailed explanations” on the incident.
“On 15 November 2022, another hours-long, massive shelling took place of the entire territory of Ukraine and its critical infrastructure by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. At 3:40 pm, a Russia-made missile dropped on the village of Przewodow, district Hrubieszow, Lubelskie province, and resulted in death of two citizens of the Republic of Poland,” the ministry statement said.
Strikes put Ukraine in darkness; missiles cross into Poland
Western media outlets said two stray rockets that landed in Polish territory came from Russia. Poland is a signatory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance.
Article 5 of the treaty says that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it shall be considered an attack against all members.
Polish President Andrzej Duda spoke with both US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, following the explosion that took place in the eastern part of the country near the Ukraine border.
Biden offered full US support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation and reaffirmed the US’ ironclad commitment to NATO.
In a Twitter post, British PM Sunak said he reiterated the UK’s solidarity with Poland and expressed condolences for the victims. He also added that the UK will remain in close contact and coordinate with its NATO allies.
Besides US and UK, NATO has said it is probing reports that Russian missiles hit Poland.
Extending condolences to Polish President Andrzej Duda, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is “monitoring the situation”.
-The New Indian Express
