World on edge over whose missile struck Poland: Was it Russia’s or a Ukrainian blip?
The missile strike on Poland was a result of Ukraine’s malfunctioning missile defence system, as per the information allegedly shared with G7 leaders.
Late on Tuesday, a missile landed in Poland that resulted in the death of two people. Initial reports suggested that it was a Russian missile, which led to fears of escalation, as Poland is a NATO member, and an intentional Russian strike on Poland would trigger Article 5 of the NATO charter.
Some time later, reports began to emerge that suggested the missile strike on Poland might have been an accident. Now, a report from Financial Times, quoting US intelligence sources, suggests that the missile strike on Poland was a result of Ukraine’s malfunctioning missile defense system.
As the information of the missile strike on Poland reached world leaders, they assembled for an emergency G7 meeting in Bali, as most of them are already in Bali for the G20 summit. After the G7 meeting, US President Joe Biden said that it is unlikely that the missile strike was carried out by Russia.
“It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see,” Biden said. Russia too had denied claims that suggested Moscow was responsible for the strike. Russia’s defence minister has claimed that the missile strike was a “deliberate provocation with the goal of escalating the situation”.
Ukraine possesses legacy Soviet weapon systems
Ukraine has several legacy Soviet armaments, such as the S300, which might have contributed to the initial misunderstanding. The intelligence that was tabled today at the emergency G7 meeting divulged that the Ukrainian missile defence system was attempting to intercept an incoming Russian missile and it malfunctioned. Instead of intercepting the incoming Russian projectile, the Ukrainian missile defence system fired a shot that landed up in Ukraine.
It is worth noting that missile defence systems are not 100 percent accurate and a missile defence system being unable to intercept a projectile is nothing out of the ordinary. The Polish government conducted an emergency meeting after the missile strike. “There is no conclusive evidence about who fired the rocket,” said President Andrzej Duda.
