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Who fired the missile that hit Przewodów?
Summary
A look back at the confusion after a missile killed two people in eastern Poland during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.
What did the world know on 16 November 2022, the morning after a missile killed two people in eastern Poland? The picture was still shifting, and it had been shaped by events of the previous day.
On 15 November 2022, a missile struck the village of Przewodów, in eastern Poland, killing two people. The blast came as Russian missiles hit several cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, causing "critical" damage to energy facilities.
First reactions
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the weapon was a "Russian-made missile" and summoned the Russian ambassador to provide an explanation. That description of the missile's make did not settle who had fired it.
U.S. officials had earlier told the Associated Press that preliminary findings suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile. The U.S. President, Joe Biden, then said the blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile.
What was later established
Background to the episode shows that the early accounts diverged. Ukraine initially accused Russia of striking Poland, while the United States said the missile was likely an air defence missile fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile. Later, in September 2023, the Polish Prosecutor's Office stated that the explosion was caused by an out-of-control Ukrainian S-300 air defence missile.
The incident was the first in which a foreign missile hit NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It occurred during Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
A separate security story
Elsewhere, on 14 November 2022, the United Kingdom announced that it was withdrawing its troops from Mali. It cited "political instability" and the controversial relationship between the military junta led by Assimi Goïta and Russia's Wagner Group.
For readers looking back, 16 November 2022 sits between a fast-moving claim and its eventual resolution: the strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were confirmed, the Polish deaths were real, and the question of responsibility was being answered first by Warsaw and Washington, and only much later formally.
