Two people die in a rocket hit in Poland. What and who is behind it? A media report and a NATO assessment provide insights.
Update from Friday, November 18, 8:30 a.m.: After NATO announced new details about the investigation into the rocket impact in the south-eastern Polish town of Przewodow (see initial report), a media report from Poland is now causing a stir. According to the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza There is said to be clear evidence that the bullet came from the arsenal of the Ukrainian army. The report contradicts NATO statements, according to which a technical error in the form of a lack of self-destruct is said to have caused the missile impact. Instead, the Ukrainian “S-300” missile is said to have failed to hit the intended target, is said to have subsequently exploded and mistakenly landed in Poland. Background: The village mentioned at the beginning is close to the Polish-Ukrainian border.
The report of Gazeta Wyborcza according to which Polish authorities are said to have known about this relatively early on and withheld the information. The reason for this was that there was still no assessment by the US government on Tuesday evening. This was reinforced, among other things, by the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy communicated to Poland that it was definitely a Russian missile. According to the report, Selenskyj is said to have planned to use the ambiguous situation for his strategic goals. However, there is no evidence for this. The fact that Zelenskyj’s statements also caused uncertainty in Poland also shows that the Polish President, according to the report, held back. He therefore wanted to comment on Tuesday evening that it was a Ukrainian missile, but was slowed down by security authorities.
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Furthermore, it is said by the security authorities that the investigation into the deadly rocket impact in Poland is still ongoing. New details will be given in the coming days.
Rocket impact in Poland: NATO has new suspicions
First report from Thursday, November 17, 4:00 p.m.: Warsaw – There is still a lack of clarity as to what and who is actually behind the Rocket impact in Poland plugged. The investigation is still ongoing. However, more and more details are becoming known. According to the Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, fragments of a projectile were found at the crater, which indicate the “S-300” anti-aircraft system. Both the Russian and the Ukrainian army use it.
Die Nato According to a report, it is now a “tragic accident”. Like the magazine Business Insider reported that a technical error was the possible cause. Instead of destroying the anti-aircraft missile in the air by remote control, the missile flew on – and hit Polish terrain.
Rocket impact in Poland: did self-destruction go wrong?
According to Lieutenant Colonel Tanel Lelov, inspector of air defenses of NATO member Estonia, destruction of the missile is possible: “If the launched missile misses its target or does not hit within a certain period of time, it will self-destruct in the air,” he told the Estonian TV station ERR.
From the Ukraine there is no statement on these details yet. president Volodymyr Selenskyj recently only revised his assessment that definitely Russia behind the rocket hit in Poland. He referred to reports from the Ukrainian military on Wednesday. The Kremlin, in turn, said Russia had “nothing to do” with the matter. “I do not know what happened. We don’t know for sure. The whole world doesn’t know,” the Ukrainian leader said on Thursday. Nevertheless, Ukrainian experts are now to examine the crater. They are part of an international investigation to further investigate the incident.
For its part, the Russian government reacted with accusations against the West. “We understand that our enemies are looking for an excuse to increase pressure and follow the path of escalation,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state news agency Tass. Attempts are currently being made in an “absurd and obstinate” way to blame Russia.
Poland: Two people die in rocket hit
Two people were killed in a rocket attack in the south-eastern Polish town of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday. (do with dpa/AFP)