A presumed Ukrainian air defense missile landed in a village in Poland after the malfunction of its “self-destruct system,” according to a senior Polish official.
“There are many indications that one of the [Ukrainian] missiles used to shoot down a Russian missile missed the target,” Polish presidential adviser Jakub Kumoch said Thursday. “Its self-destruct system did not work, and this missile unfortunately led to a tragedy.”
The incident left two Polish citizens dead and set world leaders on edge as the initial reports of a Russian missile strike in Poland raised the specter of a new standoff between Moscow and NATO, which has armed Ukraine but tried to avoid direct involvement in the war. The explosion sparked a dispute between Western officials and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who contradicted NATO leaders on Wednesday by insisting that Russia launched the wayward missile, only to acknowledge uncertainty after President Joe Biden and other European leaders downplayed that hypothesis.
“I don’t know what happened. We don’t know for sure. The world does not know,” Zelensky said Thursday. “But I am sure that it was a Russian missile. I am sure that we fired from air defense systems. But it is impossible to talk about something specific today — that it was the air defense of Ukraine.”
US CONFIRMS POLAND STRIKE ‘LIKELY THE RESULT OF A UKRAINIAN AIR DEFENSE MISSILE’
The incident occurred as Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major bombardment of Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a tactic his forces have relied upon as Ukrainian troops continue to retake Ukrainian territory from the invading Russian forces.
“Having failed to seize Ukraine by force, President Putin seems to believe that plunging Ukrainians into darkness, cutting off their water, freezing them to death will break their will,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday while traveling in Thailand. “For any who doubt the resolve of the Ukrainians, just take a look at the liberated people in Kherson — dancing in the streets, embracing Ukrainian soldiers, tearing down Russian propaganda posters after months of Russian repression. Russia’s new strategy, like its old strategy, will fail. Ukrainian spirit is unbreakable; so is our commitment to supporting Ukraine.”
Russian officials have turned to that measure while stopping short of using a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, a scenario that could prompt Western leaders to order a direct military intervention in the war.
“Let me say this: According to the information I received from my intelligence chief, neither of the sides will use nuclear weapons as of now,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday. “Of course, we want to keep them in close contact and make them come together often … God forbid, [the use of nuclear weapons] could lead to a new world war. Let’s not let that happen.”
Putin’s team has stated that Russia will continue to blast Ukrainian infrastructure in a bid to force Zelensky to the negotiating table.
“If we survive this winter, and we will definitely survive it, we will definitely win this war,” Zelensky said Wednesday. “Believe me, the most powerful weapon that remains in Russia, of what it has already used or is going to use, is the last.”
Putin hopes to force Kyiv to agree to relinquish Ukrainian territory before Ukrainian troops reclaim more of the disputed land.
“The special military operation is continuing. It does not depend on climatic or weather conditions … its goals must be achieved,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. “The unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to resolve the problem and to enter into negotiations … are the root causes of the consequences.”
Zelensky and Ukrainian officials do not want to abide by Putin’s preconditions for talks, given that Ukrainian troops are in the midst of a successful counteroffensive. Putin has claimed sovereignty to Ukrainian territory that Russian troops have failed even to occupy, much less integrate into the Russian state.
“Nothing can be solved by simply ceasing fire … We need to restore peace — reliably and for the long term,” Zelensky said Thursday. “You will not restore stability by simply mitigating the crises provoked by Russia. Every threat must be completely dismantled.”
The unintentional strike in Poland exacerbated the risk of an escalation that neither Russia nor NATO wants.
“We already know the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident: Russia. Russia invaded its sovereign, independent neighbor,” Blinken said on Thursday. “It’s raining missiles down upon its city, upon its people, upon its infrastructure. Ukraine, like every other nation, has a right to defend its people and defend its territory. We’ll continue to help them do just that.”
Zelensky, while walking back his insistence that it must have been a Russian missile that fell in Poland, took consolation in the fact that Western allies attributed the ultimate responsibility for the error to Moscow, given Russia’s continuing attacks.
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“We are grateful that no one accuses us, because we are fighting against Russian missiles on our territory,” he said.
