NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he had spoken to the Polish president about indications that a Russian missile entered Polish airspace on December 29 during a barrage of Russian missiles and drones on Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said he consulted with President Andrzej Duda about the “missile incident” and said on Xformerly Twitter that NATO is “monitoring the situation and we will remain in touch as the facts become clear.”
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Poland's defense forces had previously stated that an unknown object had entered Polish airspace from the direction of Ukraine and then disappeared from radar.
“Everything indicates that a Russian missile has entered Polish airspace. We monitored it via radar and left the airspace. “We have confirmation of this on radars and from allies,” said the head of the Polish Armed Forces, General Wiesław Kukuła.
According to the Polish Defense Forces, the object entered its airspace about 40 kilometers and left after less than three minutes. The Defense Forces said both its radar and NATO radar confirmed the object had left Polish airspace.
Kukula said steps were being taken to verify these results and rule out the possibility of a technical error.
Poland summoned the Russian charge d'affaires and demanded an explanation. Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Russian charge d'affaires as saying that Poland had not provided any evidence of a border violation.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by telephone with the head of Poland's National Security Office, Jacek Siewiera, to express the United States' “solidarity with Poland … as it addresses reports of a missile temporarily entering Polish airspace.” “, said the White House said.
Sullivan expressed U.S. solidarity with Poland, pledged technical assistance if needed and assured Siewiera that President Joe Biden is closely following the incident.
It was not immediately clear where the object had disappeared from radar or in which direction it had been moving. Troops were mobilized to find it.
Ukrainian officials said the airstrike was the largest since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
With reporting from Portal, AP and AFP