On Tuesday, a missile came crashing down near the Ukrainian border in the Polish village of Przewodow, Poland, killing two people. The attack resulted in extensive damage with buildings splintered around the area, as a wave of uncertainty settled over Poland. However, the investigation is still ongoing as to whether the attack was started by Russians or if the projectile was launched by Ukraine, or if we have an entirely new culprit in our hands.
Who Fired the Missile?
At a similar time to when the missile had exploded near Przewodow, Russia had been launching a full-scale attack on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, which left their power grid in shambles as millions of Ukrainians lost access to power. Because of this incident, Russia received a lot of allegations, as officials believed that Russia was most likely to have shot the missile in an attempt to hit Ukraine, since the site of the explosion was close to the Ukrainian border.
Russia or Ukraine
The allegations were further propelled when it was almost confirmed that the projectiles were Russian-made. However, United States President Joe Biden stated that the missile explosion was most likely not an attack from Russia, as the trajectory of the missile does not make sense if it were directed towards Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has agreed, stating that there is no reason to assume that this was an attack from Russia, and that it was most likely a missile from Ukraine’s defenses that accidentally hit Przewodow.
However, despite NATO’s assessment saying otherwise, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he is confident that the missile was not launched by Ukraine, backing up his statement with assurance from his military commanders.
Soon after the conflict occurred, members of NATO and the G-7 met to discuss the issue at hand and the repercussions that could have come from it. Though many countries are arguing for their side, the main issue for most is the involvement of NATO into the conflict. If it is true that Russia was targeting Poland, that brings the issue to the larger scale that Russia may have targeted a NATO member, which means that Article Five of the NATO agreement can be implemented.
Article Five states that if an ally becomes the victim of an armed attack, then the remaining allies will consider it as an attack against themselves as well and take any action possible to assist the attacked ally.
Though most countries are at the resolution that it was not Russia that launched the missile and it was merely a mistake on Ukraine’s side, a largely Russo-phobic response to the issue and political turmoil from the Russia-Ukraine War has led to some doubt over whether NATO will take action or not. Ukraine has also taken a stance in the issue, requesting that the site of the explosion be opened to Ukraine for investigation. However, many countries, including the United States, have tried to appease those involved in the conflict by continuing to investigate.
The mystery behind the launch of the missile and the destruction of Przewodow is yet to be resolved.
