Home › Politics › Who fired the missile that hit Przewodów?
Who fired the missile that hit Przewodów?
Summary
A look back at 17 November 2022, two days after a missile killed two people in eastern Poland, and at what was then understood about its origin.
What did the world know about the missile that struck Poland, as of 17 November 2022? Two days earlier, on 15 November 2022, a missile strike killed two people in the village of Przewodów in eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine.
By that point, the US president, Joe Biden, had said the blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile. US officials had earlier told the Associated Press that preliminary findings suggested Ukrainian forces fired the missile at an incoming Russian missile.
A contested first reading
The incident came during Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Initially, Ukraine accused Russia of striking Poland. The American assessment pointed the other way: that the missile was most likely a defensive one, launched to intercept a Russian weapon.
Why it mattered
It was the first time a foreign missile had hit NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That made the question of who fired it central, because the answer shaped how the incident could be read.
The American assessment held. 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.
