Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said that there are no signs that the landing of a missile on his country's territory on Nov. 15 was a deliberate attack. The missile killed two people in Przewodów, six kilometers away from Ukraine's border.
The incident occurred during Russia's recent massive missile strike on Ukraine.
“We have no evidence at this time that it was a missile fired by the Russian side,” Duda said at the National Security Council on Nov. 16.
“We are dealing with extraordinary events related to the massive Russian attack on Ukraine. Unfortunately, a huge number of rockets have been fired towards western Ukraine,” Duda said.
Following the incident, NATO and Polish forces were put on alert, Duda added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that there are no signs that Russia was planning a deliberate attack on the alliance's territory.
According to Stoltenberg, a Ukrainian air defense missile was likely launched to down a Russian one and eventually landed in Poland. He said that the investigation isn't over.
"But I want to clearly state that this is not Ukraine's fault. Russia bears full responsibility as it continues the illegal war against Ukraine," he said.
According to media reports, U.S. President Joe Biden earlier told allies at the G20 summit that it was "unlikely" that the missile was fired from Russia.
Several Western leaders made statements supporting an investigation into the incident and agreeing that it would not have happened without Russia's attacks.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that G7 and NATO members are united that the first need is to establish the facts and therefore support Poland's investigation.
German Chancellor Oaf Scholz said the incident must be carefully investigated, adding that "this would not have happened without Russia’s attacks against Ukraine.”
