War in Ukraine: what is known about missiles that hit Poland
Smoke in the region of border between Poland and Ukraine hit by missiles according to news agency reports
Two people died in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine on Tuesday (15/11) after the region was hit by a "Russian-made missile", declared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.
The statement did not say who fired the missile. Both sides in the conflict use Russian-made ammunition.
The Polish government said the Russian ambassador had been summoned to provide detailed information about the incident, which took place in the village of Przewodów. The country called an emergency meeting of its National Security Council.
In recent hours, images have circulated on social networks showing fragments of missiles at the site of the attack in Poland.
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Jens Stoltenberg, head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), of which Poland is a member, said he had spoken with Polish President Andrzej Duda and was monitoring the situation.
"I offer my condolences on the loss of life. NATO is monitoring the situation and allies are following closely. Important that all facts are established," Stoltenberg said on Twitter.
Members of the organization are committed to defending each other in the event of an armed attack against any of them.
The Americans have responded cautiously to reports that Russian missiles have hit Polish territory.
The White House, Pentagon and State Department say they cannot confirm what happened and are working with the Polish government to obtain more information.
The US also repeated its commitment to defend every piece of NATO territory that comes under attack, something President Joe Biden called a "sacred obligation".
But neither the US nor its NATO allies are interested in engaging in a direct confrontation with Russia.
The Russian government has declared the reports of the missiles a "deliberate provocation" and that it has not carried out attacks on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
Ukraine, for its part, said reports that the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces were "conspiracy theory" and part of "Russian propaganda".
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telephoned Poland's president, but details of the talks have yet to be released.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that he will propose a coordination meeting this Wednesday (16/11) with the leaders of the European Union who are at the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Michel published on Twitter that he spoke with the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and who assured "the full unity of the European Union and solidarity in support of Poland".
Bombings in Kiev and other cities
Earlier, Russia launched a series of missiles against major Ukrainian cities, days after Russian troops were expelled from Kherson in the southern region of Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has dragged on since February, when Russia invaded the country. A Ukrainian counter-offensive that began in September, according to Kiev authorities, has already retaken more than 3,000 square kilometers of territory initially occupied by the Russians.
Firefighters work to put out a fire at a residential building in Kiev, Ukraine.
The capital Kiev is among the cities hit. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said residential buildings near the city center were damaged.
Attacks were also reported in Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Lviv and elsewhere.
The attacks came as world leaders were meeting at the summit of the G20, the group of the world's 20 largest economies, in Bali.
At the meeting, Vladimir Putin's government faced harsh criticism over the war in Ukraine.
power cuts
Klitschko said at least one person had died in the latest attacks in Kiev. Several Russian missiles were shot down, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said.
He warned that at least half of the city's residents were without electricity due to emergency outages — a "necessary step to balance the power system", the mayor said.
Airstrike alerts sounded across Ukraine on Tuesday.
In video shared by the Ukrainian president's office, what appears to be an apartment block can be seen in flames, with fire pouring out of the windows.
A 22-year-old resident, Oleksandra, told Reuters news agency that she saw from her window "when the rocket was flying, a bright fire and the sound of something flying very close".
Vitaly Kimm, mayor of Mykolayiv in the south, said Russian missiles were launched in three waves.
In Chernihiv, in the north, Governor Vyacheslav Chaus urged people to take shelter, adding that "the missile attack continues".
In the western city of Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy said there were also attacks, with power cuts as a result.
Kherson withdrawal
Last week, Moscow withdrew its troops from the southern city of Kherson — a major setback for the Russian army.
At other times in the war when Russia suffered defeats, the country also resorted to air strikes as a form of retaliation.
Andriy Yermak, an adviser to Ukraine's president, said Tuesday's attacks were a Russian response to Zelensky's "powerful speech" at the G20 summit.
Zelensky during a meeting with military leaders in Kherson
In the virtual speech, Zelensky addressed what he called the "G19" leaders - despising Putin - and said he was "convinced that now is the moment when Russia's destructive war must and can be stopped".
A draft summit declaration, reported by news agencies, said "a majority" of countries agreed that the war was exacerbating the weaknesses of the global economy.
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