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Fears that the war with Ukraine could spill over into a clash between Russia and NATO eased slightly Wednesday as Western officials said it was likely an errant Ukrainian defensive shell — not a deliberate salvo from Russian forces — that hit a grain facility inside Poland and killed two citizens of the NATO country.
Tensions had soared a day earlier as the strike inside Poland, the first in the nearly nine-month war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, came as Russia was unleashing a countrywide missile assault on Ukrainian cities and power stations. The Kremlin quickly denied any of its missiles targeted Polish territory and Polish President Andrzej Duda appeared to confirm that after a series of emergency meetings in both Warsaw and NATO’s Brussels headquarters Wednesday.
“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions, and it is highly probable that one of these missiles, unfortunately, fell on Polish territory,” Mr. Duda told reporters. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”
Still, President Biden and his advisors kept a heavy barrage of criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, organizing an unexpectedly strong rebuke of the invasion by most of the Group of 20 leaders summiting in Bali, Indonesia this week and arguing that Mr. Putin’s decision to start a war in the heart of Europe on NATO’s borders made deadly incidents such as what happened in Poland almost inevitable.
At the Pentagon, America’s top military officer said Russia’s missile bombardment targeting Ukraine’s civilian power system on Tuesday could amount to a war crime, one that left more than a quarter of the population without electricity as the colder temperatures settle in.
General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said Russian forces launched at least 60 missiles, and perhaps as many as 100, at targets in Ukraine during a barrage that he said was intended to bring suffering to civilians.
“We’ll have a better assessment in the days ahead [but] it was likely the largest wave of missiles that we’ve seen since the beginning of the war,” Gen. Milley told reporters at the Pentagon following a virtual meeting of NATO and allied defense ministers about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“With the onset of winter, families will be without power and, more importantly, without heat. Human suffering for the Ukrainian population is going to increase,” Gen. Milley said, offering a grim prediction of how the country may fare in the future without a working power grid. “These strikes will undoubtedly hinder Ukraine’s ability to care for the sick and the elderly.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said a U.S.-supplied air defense system has successfully intercepted Russian missiles in Ukraine even as the Pentagon said it agreed with the conclusion that an errant Ukrainian air defense missile was likely the cause of the explosion in Poland that killed two people.
