Missile that hit Poland was Ukrainian – Moscow

A missile which hit Polish territory on Tuesday night was fired by Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed. Moscow says it reached the conclusion after studying images taken from the site.

The weapon landed near the city of Przewodow, killing two people, according to Polish officials. The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that its experts analyzed photos of the projectile’s parts, published by media outlets, and “identified them as elements of a missile from the S-300 air defense system used by the Air Force of Ukraine.”

The ministry added that, on the same day, Russian aircraft and ships conducted “massive” strikes on Ukrainian command centers and energy infrastructure. “The high-precision strikes were carried out only against targets on Ukrainian territory and no closer than 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) from the Ukrainian-Polish border,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Both Russia and Ukraine use the Soviet-designed S-300 missile system, which Moscow has since upgraded into S-400 and S-500 models.

Shortly after the incident, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Moscow of having struck Polish territory. Polish President Andrzej Duda, meanwhile, said the missile was “most probably” Russian-made, but fell short of stating who'd fired it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the reaction to the missile incident as “hysterical.”

“High-ranking officials from different countries made statements without any clear knowledge of what has happened,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. “Such a brazen reaction once again demonstrates that one should never rush with assessments and statements that could escalate the situation.”