“More destructive than missiles” – how Selenskyj upset NATO after the explosion in Poland Severe burns: Talk legend Jay Leno has to have a skin graft

Two days after a rocket hit the Polish village of Przewodow, the exact background is still unclear. After initial reports that it was a Russian missile, NATO now considers a defense missile launched from Kiev as the most likely option. But Ukraine wants nothing to do with it – thus angering the West. An overview.

Stoltenberg wants to defuse the situation

After initial investigations, NATO is quite clear: the missile that hit Poland is not a Russian attack. At a press conference in Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made it clear that there was no evidence for this. Moreover, there is nothing to indicate that Moscow intends to prepare an attack on a NATO country.

Instead, NATO now assumes that the missile was fired from Kiev – albeit unintentionally. “Our analysis indicates it was an accident. The cause is probably a Ukrainian missile that was fired to repel a Russian attack,” said Stoltenberg. But this is not a reproach to Kiev, he clarified: “The responsibility lies with Russia, because this is the direct result of the ongoing war.” Ukraine has the right to defend its own territory and vital infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Poland and the US share the same view as NATO. Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a press conference that there is no evidence that Russia is responsible for the missile strike. US spokeswoman Adrienne Watson added that it was likely a Ukrainian missile that “unfortunately” landed in Poland.

Zelenskyy disagrees

However, the Ukrainian government wants nothing to do with it. Instead, President Volodymyr Zelensky re-emphasized on Wednesday evening that Kiev had nothing to do with the impact in Poland. He referred to a report by his general Valery Saluschnyj. “He told me it wasn’t one of our missiles. And I have no doubts about it,” said Zelenskyj.

The president therefore demanded that Ukraine be given access to the impact site. “If, God forbid, part of one of our missiles killed people, we apologise. But first we need an investigation, access to the accident scene and all data.”

Nato diplomat angry

The fact that Ukraine continues to reject any form of participation is met with incomprehension from NATO. A diplomat told the Financial Times he was annoyed by Zelensky’s words. “This is getting ridiculous. The Ukrainians are destroying our trust in them. No one is blaming Ukraine and they are lying,” he accuses the Kiev government. Such words are “more destructive than the missiles”.

Russia rages against the West

Russia also commented on the incidents in Przewodow on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov vehemently denied responsibility for the attacks and spoke of a “renewed hysterical and malignant Russophobic reaction” in some countries. This was a “deliberate provocation to escalate the situation,” he criticized. Russia did not even fire missiles in the direction of Kiev that day, Peskov said.

The backgrounds

A rocket hit the Polish village of Przewodow on Tuesday evening. The explosion, which took place around 3:40 p.m., killed two people. Przevodow is located just six kilometers from the Ukrainian border and about 100 kilometers north of the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Shortly after the first reports of the missile hit, rumors circulated that it could be a Russian missile. Russia had fired huge missiles at Ukraine that day. According to information from Kiev, about 100 rockets flew into Ukrainian territory and Lviv was also hit by the attacks.

The Polish government confirmed on Wednesday evening that it was a Russian-made missile. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda stressed shortly afterwards that there was no evidence that Russia had fired the missile and they did not want to jump to conclusions. Both Russia and Ukraine use Soviet-made missiles.

(dab)