UpdateIn a Polish village near the border with Ukraine, two people died after an explosion on Tuesday afternoon. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday night that a Russian-made missile had hit. Poland is a member of NATO and a Russian missile strike would, according to NATO statutes, be interpreted as an attack on all NATO countries.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki immediately convened the National Security Council. Russia denies and speaks of a ‘deliberate provocation’. Prime Minister Mark Rutte says he is in close contact with Poland and NATO partners.
Local media reported the explosion on Tuesday. This is said to have taken place a little after half past four this afternoon in the village of Przewodów, near some grain dryers. Tiny Przewodów is located just five kilometers from the border with Ukraine and 100 kilometers north of the city of Lviv.
Local authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion. Fire brigade, police and army were immediately on the spot. “It is still unclear what happened,” fire chief Lukasz Kucy told AP news agency early in the evening. However, a senior American official then quickly spoke to the same AP about the impact of two stray Russian missiles.
A spokesman said on Tuesday evening that Poland is increasing “the preparedness” of its military apparatus. The incident is extremely sensitive because Poland is a member of NATO. In the Western Defense Alliance, of which the Netherlands has also been a member since its foundation in 1949, the allies are obliged to help each other in the event of an attack.
The scenario of stray Russian missiles is absolutely conceivable. Russia on Tuesday bombarded neighboring Ukraine with at least 85 missiles and several Iranian drones, the Ukrainian government reported. It is the largest Russian missile strike since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which President Zelensky says was intended to shut down the Ukrainian electricity network. As a result, about seven million households had no electricity for some time.
In one of the first reactions, Latvian Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabrik expresses his condolences. “I send my condolences to our Polish comrades-in-arms,” Pabrik said via Twitter. “The criminal Russian regime fired missiles that not only targeted Ukrainian citizens, but also landed on NATO territory in Poland. Latvia fully supports Polish friends and condemns this crime.”
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Russia denies
Prime Minister Mark Rutte says in a first brief response that he is in close contact with Poland and the NATO partners. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo strongly condemns the incident and says Belgium will stand with Poland. “We are all members of the Nato family,” he tweeted.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky also responded on Tuesday. Zelensky speaks of a ‘significant escalation’. Russian missiles hit Poland. The longer Russia considers itself inviolable, the more threats there are to anyone within range of Russian missiles. Firing missiles into NATO territory is a missile attack on collective security! This is a very significant escalation. We must act!”
Article 5
In his words, Zelensky refers to the well-known Article 5 of the NATO treaty. Article 5 states that an attack on one of the 30 NATO members is an attack on all of them. The US and Europe could then be sucked into a direct war with Russia. So far, it has only happened once that Article 5 has actually been invoked. That was after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001.
The question is of course whether the incident in Poland can be seen as an attack by Russia, as Zelensky suggests and which is also in his interest. It seems more likely that Article 4 of the NATO treaty will be addressed. It states that the member states will hold consultations if one of them feels threatened in its territorial integrity, political independence or security. Poland is now investigating whether it wants to apply that article, a government spokesman told Reuters news agency.
Russia denies
For now, Russia denies any involvement in the incident in Poland, calling reports about it “a deliberate provocation to further escalate tensions.” According to the Russian Defense Ministry, no Russian attacks have been carried out on targets near the Ukrainian border with Poland.
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