Poland Confirms ‘Russian-Made Missile Dropped’ on Village, Killing 2

A police officer walks past a check point on Nov.16, 2022 in Przewodow, Poland following reports that a stray missile hit Polish territory, killing two people. Omar Marques/Getty Images

Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed early Wednesday morning local time that a “Russian-made missile dropped” onto a village inside its territory near the Ukrainian border, killing two Polish citizens.

“At 3:40 pm, a Russia-made missile dropped on the village of Przewodów, district Hrubieszów, Lubelskie province, and resulted in death of two citizens of the Republic of Poland,” Polish MFA spokesperson Łukasz Jasina said in a statement.

“Therefore, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Zbigniew Rau summoned the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Polish MFA and demanded immediate and detailed explanation.”

It’s not clear whether the missile strike was intentional or done in error.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried it as “a very significant escalation” of his country’s war with Russia.

The strike marks the first time in Ukraine’s war with Russia that Russian weapons landed inside a NATO country. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO is monitoring the situation and that allied countries are “closely consulting.”

He wrote on Twitter that it’s “important that all facts are established.”

Russia Rejects Claims of Involvement

Russia has rejected claims it was involved and accused Polish media and officials of trying to deliberately provoke an escalation of the Moscow-Kyiv war by involving a NATO member country.

“Polish mass media and officials commit deliberate provocation to escalate situation with their statement on alleged impact of ‘Russian’ rockets at Przewodow,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“Russian firepower has launched no strikes at the area between Ukrainian-Polish border. The wreckage published by Polish mass media from the scene in Przewodow have no relation to Russian firepower.”

Reports on Tuesday claimed two missiles hit near the Polish town of Przewodow. Polish news outlets showed a destroyed farm vehicle and an image of a crater.

The incident occurred after Russian forces carried out its largest barrage of missile strikes yet on targets across Ukraine, causing widespread blackouts. Zelenskyy said the power was cut for around 10 million people and later restored for around eight million.