TWO people died Tuesday (Nov 15) afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine, domestic media reported.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called an emergency meeting of the country’s top national security and defence officials, according to government spokesman Piotr Mueller.
Mueller did not immediately confirm the information on the missile strike but said the meeting was held due to a “crisis situation”.
A senior US intelligence official confirmed to AP that Russian missiles crossed into Poland. The eastern European country bordering Ukraine is an EU and NATO member.
While the White House said it could “not confirm” the information on the two missiles, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda stated that the “news of at least two explosions” was “concerning”.
“Keeping a close contact with our Polish friends. Lithuania stands in strong solidarity with Poland. Every inch of #NATO territory must be defended,” Nauseda stated on Twitter.
Latvian Defence Minister Artis Pabriks said that “criminal Russian regime fired missiles … also landed on NATO territory in Poland.”
“Latvia fully stands with Polish friends and condemns this crime,” he added on Twitter.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also convened Hungary’s defence council for an emergency meeting over “the missile hitting territory of Poland,” according to his spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs.
UK’s foreign affairs ministry, FCDO, stated that London was “investigating these reports and liaising closely with allies“.
Earlier, local outlets reported that Polish police, the prosecutor’s office and the army are on site in Przewodów. Firefighters from a local unit confirmed an explosion had killed at least two people.
“Firefighters are on the spot, it’s not clear what has happened,” said Lukasz Kucy, officer on duty at a nearby firefighters’ post.
Przewodów, a village of 710 residents in eastern Poland, is situated some 130 kilometres southeast of the regional capital Lublin and 7 kilometres from Ukraine.
Russia was pounding cities across Ukraine with missiles on Tuesday in attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest wave of missile strikes in nearly nine months of war.
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