Yesterday in the village of Sevontov, two people were killed as a result of a rocket explosion. Polandnear the border with Ukraine, on the day when Ukraine was heavily bombed by the Russian army. After hours of doubt and questions about the origin of the missile, with the looming risk of escalation, Warsaw said this afternoon that it was “highly likely” that it was a “sad accident” caused by a Ukrainian missile.

Here is a summary of what has been known so far, 16:20 Greek time.

What happened;

Last night, a rocket hit the village of Sevodov in southeastern Poland, about 6 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, killing two men. News website Gazeta.pl reported that the explosion took place around 18:00 Greek time at a grain dryer located near the school.

The strike came as Russia launched massive rocket attacks throughout the day on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, cutting off power to millions of homes. Russian rockets hit cities across the country, including Lvov (west), close to the Polish border.

Poland, which borders Ukraine, is a member of NATO and has about 10,000 US troops stationed in the country.

Who launched the rocket?

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, immediately fell under suspicion. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda said the day before that there was no hard evidence as to who fired the rocket, which “probably originated in Russia”, calling it an “isolated” incident.

This morning, Duda stressed that it was “very likely” that the hit came from the Ukrainian missile defense system, which he said was “an unfortunate incident.” “There is nothing to indicate that this was a deliberate attack on Poland,” the Polish president told reporters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this afternoon that “there is no evidence” to attribute the deadly explosion in Poland to a “deliberate attack” on the country.

“According to our preliminary analysis, the incident was most likely caused by a missile of the Ukrainian air defense system, which was fired to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian cruise missiles,” Stoltenberg added.

US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Bali (Indonesia) previously considered it “unlikely” that the missile was launched by Russia. “I don’t want to say anything until we finish the investigation, but it’s unlikely, given the trajectory, that (the missile) was fired by Russia – we’ll see.”

The Kremlin hailed the “restrained” US response.

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said at noon this afternoon that Ukraine had requested access to the site of yesterday’s explosion in Poland.

What are the consequences?

The explosion raised fears that NATO, which Poland joined in 1999, could be drawn into a war between Russia and Ukraine. Poland is protected by NATO’s collective defense obligations under Article 5 of its founding treaty, but NATO’s response must be judged according to the accidental – as Warsaw now claims – or the deliberate nature of the incident.

An emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors took place this morning on the situation in Poland. The latter put its armed forces on high alert after the explosion. He also called the Russian ambassador for “immediate detailed explanations” before the Polish head of state spoke about a missile that was likely fired by Ukrainian defense.

“Ukraine is not to blame”

“Let’s be clear. Ukraine is not to blame,” NATO chief Stoltenberg said.

“Russia bears the ultimate responsibility by continuing its illegal war against Ukraine. Russia must end this senseless war,” he said, reaffirming NATO’s support for Kyiv in its “right to self-defense” and its full solidarity with Poland.

Prior to Duda’s latest statements, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the missile strike “Russia’s message for the G20 summit” in Indonesia.

Russia said it had “nothing to do” with the incident, saying today that the missile was “undoubtedly” fired by Ukrainian forces’ S-300 air defense system.

Investigation continues

“High-precision strikes were delivered only on the territory of Ukraine at a distance of more than 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Polish border,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The wreckage found in Poland “is categorically identified by Russian experts (…) as an integral part of the S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he added.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedode said in a statement that the explosion in Poland was the result of the use of Ukrainian air defense systems to “counter Russian missiles.” “, added the minister.

The leaders of the major powers of the G7 (USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Japan) previously held an emergency meeting on this issue on the sidelines of the G20. They expressed solidarity with Poland, but also asked for caution pending the results of the investigation.

^{Source: APE, AFP, Reuters, dpa, Anadolu.}