Poland missile incident shows West moving closer to World War: Russia official

The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council has warned the recent missile explosion which killed two people in Poland has pushed the West closer to World War III, while Warsaw says the strike was likely an accident from the Ukrainian air defense. 

In a tweet on Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president, cautioned that a hybrid war waged by the West against Russia could lead to disastrous consequences.

The incident “proves just one thing: waging a hybrid war against Russia, the West moves closer to the World War.”

Medvedev also put the words “missile strike” in quotation marks.

Russia's Defense Ministry also categorically rejected Poland's claim of a Russian missile striking the Polish territory, slamming the allegation as "deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation."

Moscow slams Poland's 'provocative' claim of Russian missile as reports blame Ukraine

Russia firmly rejects Polish claim of a Russian missile hitting its territory, slamming the move as "a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation."

The Russian ministry said the wreckage reportedly discovered at the scene of the strike "has nothing to do with Russian weapons." It also reiterated it did not carry out any strikes near the Ukrainian-Polish border on Tuesday.

Russia’s deputy representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said there was “an obvious attempt to provoke a direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia, with all the ensuing consequences for the whole world.”

Polyansky said it was “suspicious” that last week Western powers had asked for a UN Security Council session to be held this Wednesday, without giving a reason for the gathering, and that the alleged “missile attack” on Poland came just in time for the meeting.

Another source of doubt was the “instant hysteria of the Kiev regime and demands to punish Russia, which were backed by the Poles, who have already gone mad from Russophobia,” Polyansky said. “It would be unthinkable for our Western partners to recognize the role of Ukraine and Poland in this dangerous provocation.”

Latest reports by the Associate Press cited US officials as saying the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces while aiming at “an incoming Russian missile.”

The missile landed outside the rural Polish village of Przewodow on Tuesday, nearly 6.4 kilometers west of the Ukrainian border.

NATO chief says Russia's military might should not be underestimated despite Ukraine’s advances

“The Russian armed forces retain significant capabilities, as well as a large number of troops,” the NATO chief said.

The circumstances surrounding the incident – marking the first time a member of the US-led NATO military alliance comes under a direct missile hit during the nearly 9-month war – remains unclear.

It has not yet been specified who launched the missile and where it originated from, but the Polish Foreign Ministry merely described it as “Russian-made.”

US President Joe Biden said at a press briefing following an emergency meeting with other G7 and NATO leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the resort city of Bali that preliminary information suggested it was “unlikely” the missile was fired from within Russia, noting that he could not yet confirm what happened until investigations into the incident were complete.

NATO has also said there was no sign Russia was preparing an attack against the military alliance in the troubled region. 

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has said the missile that landed in his country appears to be an “unfortunate accident.” It was highly probable the rocket, which was Russian-made, was used by the Ukrainian air defense, he said. There were no grounds to believe the missile incident was an intentional attack, Duda added, or that the rocket was launched by the Russian side.

On February 24, Putin announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, the two regions had declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government. Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

Since then, the United States and its European allies have imposed unprecedented waves of economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev. Moscow has been critical of the weapons supplies to Kiev, warning that they will prolong the war.

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