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The United States is on high alert after a Russian missile strike in Poland killed two people on Tuesday, an incident that could signal a major turning point for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
We’ll share what we know of the strike and the U.S. and NATO response, plus an explainer on Article 5, the White House’s new Ukraine aid ask for Congress, and the biggest threats facing the nation, according to the heads of the FBI and DHS.
This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. Deadly strike in Poland risks dangerous escalation
The explosion and deaths on Polish land after Tuesday’s Russian missile strike mark the realization of a long-held concern among NATO members: that the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine would spill beyond its borders and risk widening the conflict by triggering Article 5, the mutual defense pact of member states.
Poland, which quickly began an investigation into exactly what happened, was considering invoking Article 4, which allows any NATO member to call a discussion of the council, and the nation is expected to convene a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels on Wednesday.
Calls and meetings: The deaths also set off a flurry of calls and meetings between top Western officials, with President Biden, on travel in Bali, Indonesia, for the Group of 20 Heads of State and Government Summit, speaking with Polish President Andrzej Duda early Wednesday morning local time.
In a readout on the call, the White House said Biden “offered full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation” and “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to NATO.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Polish counterpart, Jacek Siewiera, chief of the National Security Bureau of Poland, as the Polish National Security Council convened in the wake of the strike. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with his Polish counterpart Tuesday.
Still unknown: Many questions were still unanswered as of Tuesday evening, among them whether the Russian missile was intended to cross into Poland or was meant for Ukrainian territory and missed its mark.
Emerging details: The emerging details are the explosions occurred in the village of Przewodów, just north of the Ukrainian border, after the Kremlin-made armament fell at about 3:40 p.m. local time, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lukasz Jasina said in a statement late Tuesday.
It was not clear where the projectile came from, though the Polish explosion happened the same day Russia began a barrage of missile strikes across Ukraine following a retreat from the key city of Kherson.
The Polish president in a Tuesday address said his country does not know who fired the missile at the center of the incident but that it was “most likely produced in Russia.”
Russian denial: Russia’s Defense Ministry appeared to deny any involvement when it said no missile strikes were made on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border.
An escalation?: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called the incident a “really significant escalation” of the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
“Hitting NATO territory with missiles. … This is a Russian missile attack on collective security! This is a really significant escalation. Action is needed,” Zelensky said in a video address.
The deadly nature of Tuesday’s explosions may mean an escalation in the conflict, with fears confirmed that the Ukraine-Russia war would eventually spread into NATO countries the longer it drags on.
