Przewodow, Poland, Nov 16 (AFP/APP):Western leaders played down fears Wednesday that a deadly missile blast in eastern Poland could herald a dangerous escalation in the war Russia launched against Ukraine, blaming stray anti-aircraft fire.
The United States said it backed an assessment by Warsaw that the missile that landed inside Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces.
“We have seen nothing that contradicts President (Andrzej) Duda’s preliminary assessment that this explosion was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense missile,” the White House said in a statement.
Warsaw and NATO have said the explosion was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile launched to intercept a Russian barrage, but that Moscow was ultimately to blame for starting the conflict.
Two people were killed on Tuesday when at least one missile hit a village in NATO member Poland near the Ukrainian border, during a mass Russian bombardment aimed at civilian infrastructure inside Western-backed Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky contradicted the assessment, saying on Wednesday that the missile that hit Poland was Russian.
“I have no doubt that this is not our missile,” Zelensky said in televised remarks. “I believe that this was a Russian missile, based on our military reports.”
Zelensky said Kyiv had not seen proof that the missile was Ukrainian and said it was imperative that Ukraine become part of an investigation.
In the immediate aftermath there was fear the incident would mark a new escalation in the conflict, but by Wednesday Duda announced Poland’s conclusion the projectile likely originated from Ukraine’s own air defences. That theory was then endorsed by Washington.
Duda said it was very likely that the Soviet-era missile was launched by Ukraine in what he called an “unfortunate accident” and said the blame lay with Russia because of its attacks on Ukraine.
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