Poland Likely to Call for NATO Meeting After Missile Strike Kills Two

Polish president Andrzej Duda has said his country is likely to call for an emergency meeting of NATO members after two people were killed by “Russian-made” missiles in a village close to the Ukrainian border.

Duda said he had informed US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and German Chancellor Olof Scholz that it was “highly likely” Poland would request to convene at the earliest opportunity after two farmers were killed in the village of Przewodów.

The incident is the first of its type in the nearly nine-month conflict, and it follows Russia’s fierce 100-missile attack on Ukraine, which caused power cuts for millions not only in Ukraine but also in neighboring Moldova.

Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskiy termed it a “a Russian missile attack on collective security” and a “a very significant escalation”. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the notion that Ukrainian forces may have been responsible as “a conspiracy theory”.

Initial investigations, however, suggest that the missile was a Soviet-era model no longer used by Russia but still held in Ukraine’s arsenal.

Leaders of Baltic nations bordering Russia called for collective action from NATO. Lithuanian president  Gitanas Nauseda tweeted, “Every inch of NATO territory must be defended!”, while Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas also called for additional support for Ukraine from the West.

The Russian defense ministry denied any involvement in the incident.

“No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian rockets. The wreckage published by the Polish media from the scene in the village of Przewodów has nothing to do with Russian weapons,” the ministry said in a statement.