No indication that missile strike was intentional attack, says Nato and Polish president

Poland’s president Andrzej Duda has said a missile blast that killed two people near its border with Ukraine appears to not have been an 'intentional attack'

Police officers check and secure an area outside a grain depot where, according to the Polish government, an explosion of a Russian-made missile killed people, in Przewodow, Poland, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Picture: AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk

Poland has said there is “absolutely no indication” that a missile that came down on farmland near its border with Ukraine, killing two people, was an intentional attack and that Ukraine is likely to have launched the projectile.

Kyiv’s forces were fending off a huge Russian air assault that savaged its power grid on Tuesday when the incident happened.

“Ukraine’s defence was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles, unfortunately, fell on Polish territory,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”

Police officers gather outside a grain depot in Przewodow, eastern Poland, where a Russian-made missile fell and killed two people. Picture: AP

At a meeting of the military alliance in Brussels, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg agreed with the assessment, saying: “An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we need to await its outcome. But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack.” 

Mr Stoltenberg said: "Let me be clear, this is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine."

The Nato chief called on Russia to “stop this senseless war” and said the alliance stands united and will “always do what is necessary to protect and defend all allies”.

Mr Stoltenberg says the Polish missile incident demonstrates that the war in Ukraine “which is President Vladimir Putin’s responsibility – continues to create dangerous situations”.

There is “no indication” that the missile was the result of a deliberate attack or that Russia is preparing offensive military actions against Nato, he added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at the end of a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The preliminary findings came after US President Joe Biden and other western backers of Ukraine had thrown their weight behind the investigation, amid repeated assertions from Russia that it did not fire the missile.

Mr Biden said it was “unlikely” that Russia fired the missile but added: “I’m going to make sure we find out exactly what happened.” Three US officials said preliminary assessments suggested it was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one.

Ukraine maintains stocks of Soviet and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defence missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin’s forces.

Ukrainian air defences worked furiously against the Russian assault on power generation and transmission facilities, including in Ukraine’s western region that borders Poland. Ukraine’s military said 77 of the more than 90 missiles fired were brought down, along with 11 drones.

The Kremlin denounced Poland’s and other countries’ initial reaction to the missile incident and, in rare praise for a US leader, hailed the response of Mr Biden.

“We have witnessed another hysterical, frenzied, Russophobic reaction that was not based on any real data,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, and pointed to a “restrained, much more professional reaction” from the US.

From left, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and European Council President Charles Michel during a meeting of G7 and NATO leaders in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

In Europe, Nato members Germany and the UK were among those stressing the need for a full investigation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against jumping to conclusions “in such a serious matter”, but added: “This wouldn’t 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.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially called it “a very significant escalation”.

Damage from the aerial assault on Ukraine was extensive and large areas were plunged into darkness.

Mr Zelensky said about 10 million people lost power but tweeted overnight that eight million had been reconnected, with repair crews working through the night.

Previous Russian strikes had already destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.