NATO is assuming the rocket explosion in Poland near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday was a tragic accident. As “Business Insider” reports, citing NATO circles at headquarters, according to internal findings, the Ukrainian armed forces on Tuesday concentrated heavily on defending against the heavy Russian rocket attacks. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, it was the worst attack on the country’s energy supply since the beginning of the war. A Ukrainian S-300 missed an approaching Russian cruise missile.
But instead of destroying the anti-aircraft missile – which is apparently technically possible – while still in the air by remote control, the missile flew on and struck Polish territory. In the constant fire from the Russian army, the Ukrainian air force was apparently simply lost because the Russian gun had missed, it is said – “a tragic accident”. The Ukrainian missile was not supplied by the West.
The US government sees responsibility for the deadly missile strike in Poland ultimately with Russia – even if it should be confirmed that the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. “The world knows that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for this incident,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told journalists in Washington on Wednesday. “Ukraine had – and has – every right to defend itself,” said a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. Russia is responsible because it has launched masses of missiles, particularly at Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
So far, the United States has not seen any information that contradicts Polish President Andrzej Duda’s assessment that the explosion in the border area with Ukraine was triggered by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had previously said so. He also sees responsibility ultimately with Russia, which has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine since February.
It is a unique event in the Ukraine war: Two Russian missiles apparently landed in a village in NATO country Poland on Tuesday, killing two people. FOCUS online Russia expert Herfried Münkler explains what reactions from the West can now be expected.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy does not believe that Ukraine is responsible for the rocket hit in Poland. Lavrov’s spokeswoman makes fun of it. Ukraine is pushing for the establishment of a no-fly zone. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found in our ticker.
Two people died in an explosion in the Polish village of Przewodów near the Ukrainian border. After initial suspicions that it was a Russian missile, there are now clear indications of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.
