This was the moment Western leaders have feared since Russia launched its all-out invasion in February: that the war might spill over onto the territory of one of Ukraine’s Nato neighbours, forcing Nato to respond and thus widening the conflict.
But early fears that Russia might have deliberately attacked Poland quickly faded, as analysts and then Western politicians lined up to say this did not look like a deliberate Russian attack.
After this morning’s Nato meeting, the alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said that his preliminary analysis showed that the wreckage filmed at the site was part of a Ukrainian air defence missile.
But, he added, this was not Ukraine’s fault. After all, none of this would have happened if Russia hadn’t launched dozens of cruise missiles yesterday at targets all across Ukraine.
Not Ukraine’s fault, but questions will be raised about Kyiv’s early denial that one of its air defence missiles was involved.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, last night tweeted that any suggestion a Ukrainian missile had landed in Poland was a Russian “conspiracy theory”.
In light of subsequent comments from Joe Biden, his Polish counterpart, Duda, Stoltenberg, the Danish defence minister and others, Kuleba’s tweet seems hasty.
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Source: BBC.com