Russia says Ukraine’s S-300 air defence missile behind Poland blast
- The defence ministry said Russian strikes in Ukraine had been no closer than 35km from the Polish border
- The Kremlin praised US President Biden for showing ‘restraint’ in his response to the blast as Nato partners called for a thorough probe into the incident
“The photos published in the evening of November 15 in Poland of the wreckage found in the village of Przewodow are unequivocally identified by Russian defence industry specialists as elements of an anti-aircraft guided missile of the S-300 air defence system of the Ukrainian air force,” RIA news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying.
It was not possible to independently verify the images or the identification.
The Kremlin on Wednesday criticised how some Western leaders had responded to the incident.
‘Unlikely’ missile that killed 2 in Poland was fired from Russia, Biden says
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia had nothing to do with the blast, and said a number of countries had made “baseless statements” about Moscow’s involvement.
Peskov added that US President Joe Biden had shown “restraint” in his response to the blast.
Nato member Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday the missile that hit Przewodow killing two people was probably a Ukrainian air defence missile and there was no evidence to suggest the incident was an intentional attack by Russia.
“From the information that we and our allies have, it was an S-300 rocket made in the Soviet Union, an old rocket and there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side,” Duda said. “It is highly probable that it was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence.”
Polish Prime Minister Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw might not need to activate Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty, which calls for consultations when a country considers its security under threat.
Earlier, a Nato source said Biden had told allies that the blast in Poland had been caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile.
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Suspected Russian missile kills 2 in Poland near Nato member country’s Ukraine border
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the rocket explosion was a provocation by the West, warning of a potential third world war.
“The story with the Ukrainian ‘rocket strikes’ on a Polish farm proves only one thing: The West is increasing with its hybrid war against Russia the probability of starting a third world war,” Medvedev tweeted.
Dmitry Polyansky, the deputy head of Russia’s UN delegation, also denied that Moscow was responsible for the deadly incident in Poland. He went on to suggest that a coming UN Security Council session scheduled last week by Western nations was evidence of a conspiracy.
“And now, suddenly, on the evening [before the UN Security Council session] there is a ‘rocket attack’ on Poland,” the Russian diplomat said.
Russian strikes across Ukraine plunge country into darkness
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday the missile blast should be fully investigated before conclusions are drawn.
In his closing statement following the G20 summit in Bali, Scholz said it was a positive sign that the United States had offered to assist Poland with the probe.
Wrangling over the Ukraine war dominated the world leaders two-day meeting on the Indonesian island, as Western countries pushed for a condemnation while Russia decried the summit’s “politicisation”.
The final declaration said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”, while acknowledging “other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.
Scholz urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict and said in an interview with broadcaster ntv that Russia could only find a way out of the situation by taking immediate, decisive steps such as withdrawing troops and being open to peace talks that do not lead to a dictated peace.
Russia’s defence ministry also said it had not targeted Kyiv during Tuesday’s widespread strikes.
Additional reporting by dpa
