At the same time as new massive Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, a missile fell on the territory of NATO member Poland on Tuesday. At least two people died. NATO and Poland are currently “not expecting a targeted attack”. It is believed to be an anti-aircraft missile launched by Ukraine in response to Russian shelling, which accidentally landed in Poland.
According to Ukrainian counts, Russian forces sent more than 90 missiles and combat drones into Ukraine’s territory. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, it was the worst Russian attack on the country’s energy supply since the war began on February 24. Even if the majority of the incoming missiles were intercepted, the impacts of the other missiles would have caused serious damage to the energy supply. For about ten million people, the power went out at times, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said.
In fact, near Polish Przevodow on the Ukraine side there is a power plant: Dobrotvorskaya thermal power plant in the town of Dobrotvir. The news portal Nexta had reported that this could probably have been a target of Russian missiles.
The operator DTEK supplies Poland with electricity from this power plant.
There is also speculation that a Ukrainian military base in the west of the country was targeted by Russian missiles. The Bulgarian news portal actualno.com reports that there is a Ukrainian military base about 70 kilometers from Przevodov as the crow flies. This can also be seen on satellite images. According to Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the political office of Ukrainian President Zelensky, the Russians wanted to hit that military base but missed, actualno.com quotes Arestovych as saying.
The Javoriv military base was already the target of Russian attacks in March, as ZDF reported at the time. At least 35 people were killed and 134 others injured.
The Russian Defense Ministry has tried to justify the massive rocket attack on Ukraine’s energy supply with its alleged military importance. The target of the attack was “Ukraine’s military command system and the associated energy systems,” spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Wednesday. Russia shot down the missiles from planes and ships the day before. The aim of the attack had been achieved, he said.
The Russian military spokesman Konashenkov presented it as if the capital Kyiv had not been attacked. He claimed that the damage in the metropolis was caused by falling debris from Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles.
As for the rocket debris in the eastern Polish village of Przewodow on the border with Ukraine, Russia and NATO were exceptionally in agreement. The Russians also see Ukraine’s S-300 air defense system behind the incident in Poland. Russian armaments experts came to this conclusion by analyzing photos of the debris at the impact site. Konashenkov called previous reports that a Russian rocket had landed there on Tuesday as a provocation. Russia did not fire on any targets within 35 kilometers of the Polish border, he said.
