Russia-Ukraine War: Kyiv raises doubts, says missile in Poland did not come from Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities have voiced doubts that a missile that fell in Poland on November 15 came from Ukrainian air defense forces.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said a Russian-made missile fell on the village of Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland, about six kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Two people died in the incident, which has raised global alarm that the Ukraine war could spill into neighboring countries.

Western officials, including U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO chief Jens Stotlenberg, said the incident was probably caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, though they cautioned that there has been no indication so far that it was a deliberate attack and an investigation into what happened is ongoing.

But Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said on November 16 that Kyiv wanted a joint study of the incident with its Western partners and to see the information that provides the basis for its allies' conclusions.

"We are advocating a further, as detailed as possible study of this incident together with our partners. We are ready to hand over to our partners the evidence of the Russian trail that we have," Danilov said.

"We also expect information from our partners, on the basis of which a final conclusion was made that it is a Ukrainian air defense missile," he added.

Ukraine has also requested immediate access to the site of the explosion, he said.

"We remain completely open to a comprehensive study of the situation and agreement on conclusions based on the entire set of available data," Danilov said.

The incident occurred during what Kyiv said was Russia's most-intensive wave of missile attacks on cities across Ukraine since the start of the war in February.

Russia has denied its missiles hit Polish territory, saying the reports were "a deliberate provocation" to escalate the situation.

Danilov also said Ukraine has evidence of a "Russian trace" in the incident and echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in blaming Russia's "missile terror."

Danilov provided no details of what evidence he was citing. (KB/RFE-RL)