The Polish Foreign Ministry had previously said that two people were killed when a Russian-made missile hit the village of Przewodow near the border with Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon. The Russian ambassador in Warsaw was summoned to provide “immediate, detailed explanations” of the incident. Poland put parts of its armed forces on increased alert.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said there was still no certainty as to who was responsible for the missile impact. The Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously accused Russia of firing rockets at the NATO state Poland and thus causing a “very significant escalation”. In an initial reaction, the government in Moscow dismissed the reports of Russian rockets hitting Polish territory as “provocations”.
An emergency meeting of the NATO ambassadors is planned for Wednesday in Brussels. Duda said it was “very likely” that the Polish ambassador would invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty at the meeting and demand a debate between the 30 allies.
In Article 4, the NATO states promise “consultation” in all cases in which a member sees “its territorial integrity, political independence or security” at risk. However, this does not necessarily result in common steps. Article 4 is significantly less far-reaching than the alliance case regulated in Article 5.
