New Delhi: Two people were reportedly killed after some missiles fell in Poland’s Przewodow village near the border with Ukraine.
Initial reports have indicated that they could be stray Russian missiles, a media outlet reported. However, Russia has denied reports that its missiles fell on Polish territory.
Earlier, a Poland-based Radio Zet journalist has unofficially reported that two missiles fell in the village of Przewodow near the border with Ukraine on Tuesday.
Two people were reportedly killed in the explosion after the missiles struck grain dryers.
Representatives of the police, the prosecutor’s office, and armed forces have arrived at the scene.
Later on, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened an urgent meeting of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence Affairs.
Initial reports indicate that stray Russian missiles hit a town near the border with Ukraine, Jerusalem Post reported.
The reports came amidst Russia’s large-scale missile strike on Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon. Several missiles landed not far from the Ukrainian-Polish border, which triggered speculations that the missiles which fell in Przewodow were fired by Russia.
However, Poland has not officially confirmed that the incident was connected to the recent Russian missile attack on Ukraine.
Reacting to the development, Poland’s Military Representative General Mieczyslaw Bieniek said that if the reports about the Russian missiles are confirmed, it will mean a “serious international incident”.
“I say with great confidence that these were stray bullets,” he said on TVN24.
According to Bieniek, it could be a railway junction on the other side of the border, and the thermal source that the missile was guided by could be the drying room on which the alleged rockets fell.
Meanwhile, NATO has said it is analysing reports that rockets or missiles have landed in member state Poland and is working closely with Polish authorities.
“Spoke with President Duda about the explosion in Poland. I offered my condolences for the loss of life. NATO is monitoring the situation and Allies are closely consulting. Important that all facts are established,” NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet.
A direct attack on Poland, a member of NATO, could lead to triggering of Article 5 of the treaty that dictates if a NATO ally is a victim of an armed attack, all other members of the treaty will consider this an act of violence against the entire alliance and will take actions it deems as necessary to assist the attacked ally.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, such reports are “a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation.”
“We warned for a long time about what happened today. We talked about it. Terror is not limited to our territory. It has already spread to the territory of Moldova. And today, Russian missiles fell on Poland, the territory of a friendly country. People died,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening speech.
(IANS)
