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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Abigail O'Leary

Zelensky warns 'Russian terror' will go further after 'Poland missile explosion'

President Zelensky has issued a terror warning after Russian missiles reportedly hit Poland

The Ukrainian leader said: "Today, something that we have been warning for a long time has also happened. Terror is not limited to our state borders.

"Russian missiles hit Poland ... Hit missiles on NATO territory. This is a Russian missile attack on collective security! This is a very significant escalation.

"At the same time, he recalled that the Ukrainian side has repeatedly said that the terrorist state will not be limited only to Ukraine.

"It's a matter of time before Russian terror goes further. The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be for anyone who can get Russian missiles," he said, urging Poland to take decisive action.

"We must act. And now I want to say to all our Polish brothers and sisters: Ukraine will always support you! Terror will not break free people! Victory is possible when there is no horror! You and I do not."

Earlier Tuesday, AP citing a senior US intelligence official, said Russian missiles crossed the border of Poland, a NATO member, and fell on its territory, killing two people.

The rockets fell in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland, close to the Ukraine border where they exploded.

Local media reported the rockets were strays, but it is not yet known if the impact was intentional or not. They struck grain silos on a farm with police and the army racing to the scene in the aftermath.

Map showing Przewodow in Poland, compared to Ukraine border (Google Maps)

The incident could have serious ramifications because Russian missiles have killed in a NATO country, during its ongoing war in Ukraine.

"Poland could opt to invoke NATO's article 5 which states an attack on one member state is treated as an attack on them all.

A press secretary for the Pentagon said: "When it comes to our security commitments and Article 5, we have been crystal clear: we will defend every inch of NATO territory."

The Ukrainian leader said: "Today, something that we have been warning for a long time has also happened. Terror is not limited to our state borders." (zelenskiy_official/Instagram)

Russia denied reports of the missile impacts and claimed they were a 'deliberate provocation' but Ukraine said that it had warned of such an attack for a long time.

At 8pm GMT, government ministers in Poland are meeting thought to be discussing the development.

Poland's Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, convened the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence Affairs "as a matter of urgency", government spokesman Piotr Müller confirmed.

Müller did not immediately confirm the reports of the US intelligence official and said the meeting was being held due to a 'crisis situation'.

Russia has denied the missile attack (Kremlin.ru/east2west news)

Polish armed forces are reportedly on ‘high alert’ and military planes were reportedly scrambled in response and were in the air in the region.

The two people who were killed were said to have died at the scene following the impact of the rockets, thought to have happened some time this afternoon.

Initially, local fire services confirmed an explosion in the area but it later emerged that rockets had fallen there.

Images from the impact site of the rockets show burnt and twisted farm equipment, destroyed by the rockets and a huge crater in the ground.

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