What just happened in Poland as 'Russian' missiles cross the border and kill two people

The world is reacting to reports that Russian missiles struck Polish territory, killing two civilians on Tuesday.

The explosion hit a grain silo in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, following Russian missile attacks directed at Ukrainian territory on Tuesday.

The reports, while not confirmed, have stoked fears of WWIII. Because Poland is a Nato member, a Russian attack on Polish territory could draw the entire alliance into war because of the North Atlantic Treaty’s mutual defence clause known as Article Five.

The US and Western allies are investigating the reports, but have not confirmed that the blast was caused by Russia.

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Here’s a timeline of what we know so far.

Initial reports

A senior US intelligence official said Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information, but said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a “crisis situation”.

Zelensky condemns the attacks and blames Russia

Volodymyr Zelensky directly blamed Russia for the missile explosion in Poland that killed two yesterday evening, saying his own country had warned that Moscow’s terror would not be “limited to our national borders”.

US officials reportedly claim that Russia was not behind the attack

The US officials spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, and said preliminary assessments suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces during the Russian bombardment on energy infrastructure across Ukraine.

According to the report, the officials claimed forces in Ukraine had attempted to shoot down an incoming Russian projectile.

Biden suggests it was ‘unlikely’ Russia fired missile

Joe Biden initially said it seemed “unlikely” that the missile was fired from Russia, but that he would support the Polish investigation.

He said: "There is preliminary information that contests that. I don't want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see."

Russia denies it was behind attack

Russia has denied responsibility. The country’s defence minister said in a statement that “no strikes” near the Poland-Ukraine border had been carried out by Russian-made weapons.

The Russian defence ministry said the reports about Polish casualties were “a deliberate provocation with the aim of escalating the situation”.

The US enters talks with Poland to establish truth

The White House has said it is now working with Polish government to gather information on Russian missile strike report

“We've seen these reports out of Poland and are working with the Polish government to gather more information. We cannot confirm the reports or any of the details at this time,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson in a statement.

Speaking at the daily State Department press briefing, deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel also said US officials are still in the process of determining what happened in consultation with Polish officials.

“I don't want to speculate about any hypotheticals just yet,” he said. “We will determine what happened and we will determine appropriate next steps”.

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