The Defense Department said it was seeking more information on reports that a Russian missile barrage on Ukraine spilled across the border, hitting NATO member Poland and killing at least two people, but military officials said they don’t have enough information to confirm the claims or determine whether the attack was deliberate.
Air Force Brig. Gen Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said they are taking the reports seriously and are “looking into them.”
“We want to deal with facts,” he told reporters. “We just don’t have any details to provide.”
The Polish government and an unnamed U.S. intelligence official both said they had seen reports of the strike, which occurred at a small Polish town about 10 miles from the Ukrainian border.
The Russian Defense Ministry, in its first comments on the incident, denied Russian missiles were involved and called it a Polish “deliberate provocation,” the official Tass news agency reported.
“Polish media reports and official statements about the alleged fall of ‘Russian’ missiles near the Polish settlement of Przewodow are a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation,” the ministry statement said. The Russian military has conducted no strikes at targets close to the Ukrainian-Polish state border.”
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, wreckage seen in the Polish media’s footage from the scene has no relation to Russian weapons, Tass reported.
Gen. Ryder said Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv had been struck during the day by Russian missiles, most likely launched from Russian aircraft flying outside Ukrainian airspace.
“Russia has used a mix of capabilities when it comes to its strikes, to include surface-to-surface missile systems, airborne platforms, as well as sea-launched missiles,” he said. “In the situation that we’re seeing right now, we’re seeing them employ both ground-based and air-based assets for these strikes today.”
About 10,000 U.S. personnel are in Poland on regular rotations. Gen. Ryder said protecting the troops is always a top priority for leaders at the Defense Department.
“When it comes to force protection, we always take the safety and security of our troops, no matter where they’re serving, very seriously,” he said. “We’re very confident in any force protection measures that we take — whether it be Poland or elsewhere.”