The Polish government has convened crisis talks following reports that a Russian missile intended for a Ukrainian power station has landed in the Nato member country, killing two people.
A US intelligence official has told the Associated Press news agency that missiles landed across the Ukraine-Poland border during an assault on Ukrainian energy facilities. Polish officials are now considering whether to call for wider Nato discussions under Article 4 of the military co-operative's founding treaty.
The clause allows member states to call for discussions on whether "the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened". Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information from US officials, but said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a "crisis situation."
Polish media reported that two people died on Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a village near the border with Ukraine. The blasts caused widespread blackouts but a defiant Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared: "We will survive everything."
In his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader characterized the reported strikes in Poland as "a very significant escalation" that offered proof that "terror is not limited by our state borders." Zelenskyy said Russia fired at least 85 missiles on Tuesday, "most of them at our energy infrastructure," and shut down power in many cities. "We're working, will restore everything. We will survive everything," the president vowed.
If confirmed, the strike would mark the first time in the war that Russian weapons have come down on a NATO country. The Russian Defense Ministry denied being behind "any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border" and said in a statement that photos of purported damage "have nothing to do" with Russian weapons.
A statement said: "Statements by the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of 'Russian' missiles in the area of the settlement of Przewodow is a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation.
"No strikes were made against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border by Russian means of destruction."
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine's power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark. At least a dozen regions reported power outages, affecting cities that together have millions of people.
Ukrainian energy minister Herman Haluschenko said the attack was "the most massive" bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old Russian invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systems. He accused Russia of "trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter."
The power grid was already battered by previous attacks that destroyed an estimated 40% of the country's energy infrastructure. Almost half of the Kyiv region lost power, authorities said. Ukrainian Railways announced nationwide train delays.
Zelenskyy warned that more strikes were possible and urged people to stay safe and seek shelter. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior officer, told AP: "Most of the hits were recorded in the centre and in the north of the country. In the capital, the situation is very difficult."
As city after city reported attacks, Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to "hang in there."
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities found a body in one of three residential buildings that were struck in the capital, where emergency blackouts were also announced by power provider DTEK. Video published by a presidential aide showed a five-storey, apparently residential building in Kyiv on fire, with flames licking through apartments.
Klitschko said air defence units also shot down some missiles. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra took to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and, from his place of safety, described the bombardment as "an enormous motivation to keep standing shoulder-to-shoulder" with Ukraine.
"There can be only one answer, and that is: keep going. Keep supporting Ukraine, keep delivering weapons, keep working on accountability, keep working on humanitarian aid," he said.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are investigating these reports and liaising closely with allies."
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