EXPLAINED: Poland Says Ukrainian Missile Killed Two People in 2022 Incident

Warsaw has concluded that the missile that killed two people in a Polish village in November was fired by Ukrainian forces.

Remind me, what happened?

On Tuesday Nov. 15, Russia launched a barrage of cruise missiles against Ukraine as it continued its campaign to destroy Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

In the evening, news reports emerged that one missile had struck the village of Przewodow, some six kilometers (four miles) from the Ukrainian border, killing two people.

How did the world react?

With a frenzy - on social media at least - with many speculating that if the missile was Russian, it could be seen as an attack on a NATO country that could spark World War 3.

Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and instead of World War 3, a careful investigation was carried out.

What has it found?

The investigation seems to have confirmed earlier claims made by Poland and the international community that the explosion was likely caused by a Ukrainian air-defense missile launched to intercept the Russian barrage.

At the time of the incident, US President Joe Biden said on the morning of Nov. 16, after convening an emergency meeting of world leaders attending the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, that it was “unlikely” the missile was launched from Russia.

 According to a NATO source quoted by Reuters, Biden later told G7 and NATO partners that a Ukrainian air defense missile was responsible for the blast.

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The Polish State Protection Service said it discovered the device in a routine check on Tuesday, and ongoing investigations are trying to establish its origin.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro on Thursday said an “investigation carried out by Polish prosecutors led to ... an unequivocal opinion... that this missile was Ukrainian,” AFP reports.

He said the finding was based on the “place where the missile was fired from,” adding that the projectile was of Soviet production.

What has Ukraine said?

There’s been no response from Kyiv at the time of writing and Ziobro also said he regretted that “for months, there was no cooperation” from Ukraine over the probe.

Poland's far-right Confederation party has said Kyiv should pay compensation for the incident.