A missile that hit Poland on Tuesday evening was fired by Ukrainian forces in their attempts to shoot down an incoming Russian projectile, US officials have been quoted as saying.
Three US officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said preliminary assessments suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces during the Russian bombardment on energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
Polish officials said earlier that a “Russian-made missile” landed in a grain store in Przewodow, Lublin, about 6 km from the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine continues to maintain stocks of former Soviet and Russian-made weaponry, including the S-300 air-defense missile system.
The explosion within the borders of Nato-member state Poland killed two people, sparking an investigation and emergency meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) members who were in Indonesia.
US president Joe Biden, who is in Bali attending the G20 summit, said it was “unlikely” that the missile was fired from Russia, but promised to support Warsaw’s investigation into the incident and also described the missile as “Russian-made”.
“There is preliminary information that contests that,” Mr Biden told reporters when asked if Russia fired the missile. “It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”
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