Russian missile strike kills two in NATO member Poland
Source: (
https://bit.ly/3UY6hMt)
Russian missiles crossed into Polish territory on Tuesday, killing
two people in an explosion that could threaten to pull the NATO
alliance into the Ukraine war, a senior US intelligence official
said.
The missiles struck Polish territory along its western border with
Ukraine, the official with knowledge of the situation told the
Associated Press. The strike happened near the village
of Przewodow, some 45 miles north of the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Piotr Mueller, a spokesman for the Polish government, did not
immediately confirm the information, but said on Twitter that
leaders in Warsaw were in a meeting over a "crisis situation."
Polish radio station ZET reported that two stray missiles had hit the
region, killing two people. The reports did not attribute the strikes
to Russia or provide any further details.
The Pentagon said it could not immediately confirm the report
of Russian missiles striking Poland.
"First, let me go ahead and highlight up front that we are aware
of the press reports alleging that two Russian missiles have struck
a location inside Poland near the Ukraine border," Pentagon
spokesman Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a briefing.
"I can tell you that we don't have any information at this time to
corroborate those reports and are looking into this further, and so
when we do have an update to provide, we'll be sure to do so."
Poland is a NATO member state. Should the Polish government
decide to invoke Article Five of the alliance agreement - which calls
for collective defense of member states - the strike could draw the
additional 29 members of the Cold War-era alliance, including the
US, further into the conflict.
Asked how the US would respond if the strike was confirmed, Ryder
declined to answer.
"I don't want to speculate or get into hypotheticals," Ryder said.
"When it comes to our security commitments, and Article Five, we've
been crystal clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory,"
he added.
The attack came as Russia fired a salvo of nearly 100 missiles
at Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv,
but also striking targets in western Ukraine, including in Lviv
province.