Australia Concerned Over Potential Russian Missile Strike on Poland

A Ukrainian soldier of an artillery unit fires towards Russian positions outside Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, on Nov. 8, 2022. Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images

Australia is concerned over the potential Russian missile strike on NATO member Poland after authorities confirmed that a “Russian-made missile” dropped onto a village inside its territory near the Ukrainian border, killing two.

According to a statement from Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Russia-made missile dropped on the village of Przewodów, district Hrubieszów, Lubelskie province, at 3:40 p.m., killing the Polish citizens.

It’s not clear if the missile strike was intentional or an error.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that this was “a very significant escalation” of Russia’s war with Ukraine.

In a statement on Nov. 16, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia joined Ukraine in condemning the attacks and called the incident in Poland concerning.

“Reports these missiles have also struck Polish territory are deeply concerning,” she said in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday. “We again call on Russia to withdraw its forces and end its illegal, immoral war.”

Ukrainian officials have said that the bombardment on Nov. 15 was Russia’s most significant missile attack on the country since the beginning of the conflict.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko told ABC Radio National on Nov. 16 that there were reports of between 85 to 100 missiles being fired at targets around the country.

He noted that the Ukrainian forces believe they intercepted at least two-thirds of the missiles but that many found their targets, which were civilian-based.

“Russians are deliberately hitting the civilian infrastructure; as of today, seven million Ukrainians don’t have access to electricity,” Myroshnychenko said.

“Many people don’t have access to water and heating, and that’s a deliberate pressure and strikes on civilians; these are war crimes.”

However, Russia has said its military was not involved in the incident and accused the Polish media and officials of provoking an escalation of the Moscow-Kyiv war by involving a NATO member country.

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

NATO Seeks Answers

The strike is the first time in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that Russian weapons have landed inside a NATO country.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said on Twitter that he had spoken to the president of Poland about the strike and noted NATO was monitoring the situation, with allied countries “closely consulting.”

“Important that all facts are established,” he said.

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called for calm as his government investigates the incident.

However, the strike would permit the NATO member to invoke Article Four of the NATO Treaty, which allows any members of the treaty organisation to raise any issue of concern, especially related to the security of a member country, to the table for discussion within the North Atlantic Council.

According to NATO, the invocation would then lead to some form of joint decision or action on behalf of the Alliance.

However, Myroshnychenko has said it would be unlikely that Russia and NATO would enter into a military confrontation as it would involve weapons of mass destruction.

“We are hoping that NATO will be able to step up its military assistance to Ukraine, which will include tanks and long-range missiles,” he said.